NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens on March 23 announced that $1 million in funding was secured to help in the creation of a new outpatient dialysis center at the hospital.
The project will address significant medical needs in the community given the high number of patients experiencing end-stage renal disease or kidney failure.
It will also give patients who need chronic renal dialysis, or those waiting for a kidney transplant, access to dialysis treatments on the Queens Hospital’s campus. This could allow NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens to further close the gap in delivering services and addressing disparities in healthcare delivery and access. The new center will be housed in an existing space.
“Kidney disease and renal failure are immense challenges to residents across the borough and require intensive, time-consuming treatment,” Senator Chuck Schumer said. “This center will allow NYC Health + Hospitals to make sure that residents can get the care they need.”
Funding came from the Fiscal Year 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act from Senate Majority Leader Schumer and Congresswoman Grace Meng, New York’s senior member of the House Appropriations Committee.
The total estimated cost for the entire project, including renovation of the existing space and new equipment, is $2.62 million. This funding aims to help to reduce healthcare disparities in the borough of Queens by providing residents with increased access to safe, affordable and comprehensive care.
“This will be a huge addition to our borough, and serve a critical medical need for Queens residents fighting renal disease and kidney failure,” Congresswoman Meng said. “It will also allow area residents who are waiting on kidney transplants to have local access to dialysis treatments.”
According to Meng, the funding will also aid in the renovation of the current space and updating the treatment area with modern equipment, which could help improve the lives of residents and reduce the healthcare disparities among Queens residents.
According to NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Mitchell Katz, the new dialysis center should help enhance their patients’ continuum of care.
The hospital’s CEO, Neil J. Moore said it will enable them to provide a state-of-the-art outpatient dialysis center located right in the heart of Queens to members the patients, many of whom rely on the hospital for their primary care as well as prefer to receive the services they need in their own borough.
“As we continue to shift our focus toward prevention and chronic disease management, establishing this new center would demonstrate cutting-edge clinical interventions leading to improved clinical outcomes,” Moore said. “Particularly in light of new realities created by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are acutely aware of the importance of prioritizing our patients’ comfort so they can receive the right care, at the right place, at the right time, all of the time.”
According to the hospital’s deputy medical director, Jean-Bernard Poulard, the new center would have a base population of 350 existing patients, with room for 25 to 30 new dialysis patients each year.
“The overall goal is to provide high-quality, timely and patient-centered care to a chronic care patient population in a single-site setting,” Poulard said. “In the event of an unlikely adverse reaction, having the hospital as the primary site of care affords our patients the benefits of having emergency response services always close at hand.”
Based on the NYC Community Health Needs Assessment of 2019 for New York City and the Queens County Supplement, there is a significant and growing prevalence of diabetes, especially its latter-stage complications. The new outpatient dialysis center will serve southeastern Queens and its surrounding communities.
