The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

April 23, 2008

Officials: Dialysis center coming soon

Mary Catherine Brooks

Oceana will soon be home to a regional dialysis center, according to officials.

“As of today, it is a reality,” Mayor Nola Rose said Wednesday. “It’s just wonderful.”

Fresenius Medical Care North America expects to open the new center by this time next year, according to Jim Swann, regional director of health planning.

Swann coordinated the certification process through the West Virginia Health Care Authority.

Currently, the more than 30 patients in Wyoming County who need dialysis treatment must travel to Beckley, Welch or Logan, Swann noted.

The proposed facility will provide a 12-station center that could serve 48 patients with dialysis treatments three times a week, Swann explained.

“We want to make it convenient for patients,” he said, “and make the center successful. This will serve a group of patients that are currently not being served.”

The next step, he said, will be to find a location within town to construct the facility.

Swann gave Rose the credit for bringing the center to reality.

“Obviously, it was her enthusiasm that carried this project forward,” he said of the mayor.

“I’ve done more than 100 applications for this, and I’ve never seen this level of support.”

More than 800 letters were submitted in support of the new dialysis center, Swann said.

“We’re lucky if we get 50 letters of support,” he explained. “This is a new benchmark in terms of support. And it was nothing I did, it was all Mayor Rose.”

The mayor said she’d been working to bring the project to reality for nearly a year.

“The churches all got behind this and wrote letters,” she noted.

“There is a 30-day appeal period,” Swann noted, but he doesn’t anticipate any opposition.

“This will bring some jobs to Oceana. This will bring some much-needed medical services to the area. It’s a win-win for everybody and Nola Rose is the reason.”

With its U.S. headquarters in Massachusetts, Fresenius Medical Care North America, a worldwide company, operates 1,500 facilities across the United States, with 16 in West Virginia.

— E-mail:

mcbrooks@register-herald.com

Text Only
Local News
AP Video
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium 50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns
Hyperlocal Search
Premier Guide
Find a business

Walking Fingers
Maps, Menus, Store hours, Coupons, and more...
Premier Guide
Popular Searches
Powered by Local.com