Another First at NRMC

Natchitoches Regional Medical Center has opened its first Inpatient Dialysis Unit, and this important service is ensuring chronic kidney patients have access to dialysis should they need other hospital services. Staffed by an experienced Nephrology team lead by Medical Director Dr. Alfred Ajise, the Unit ensures immediate access to dialysis services for those hospital patients who normally receive dialysis on an outpatient basis.

“This highly specialized service is different from the Nephrology Services offered in the Intensive Care Unit. There, we provide Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy over a 24-hour period for acutely ill patients,” explained NRMC Clinical Resource Manager Stephen Burkholter, RN, BSN. “The Inpatient Dialysis Unit is specifically designed for more routine care for chronic kidney patients who may come into the hospital with other medical reasons but who need their ongoing dialysis care while they are here.”

“We are happy to have Dr. Ajise, a board-certified nephrologist, lead our nephrology program and its expansion,” explained Kirk Soileau, CEO. “With the opening of the Inpatient Dialysis Unit, we can provide support for nephrology patients who need hospitalization. This becomes extremely important if a person with kidney disease comes to us with an acute health event such as a stroke, serious illness, or a traumatic injury. We are now able to assist them with those needs because of our ability to offer dialysis. We’ve now closed that gap and can provide the dialysis support they need. Inpatient dialysis is a first for our hospital, and one that has already benefitted many patients in a very short period of time. We are glad to be able to offer this level of specialized care,” Soileau noted.