Fresenius Medical Center, 2526 S. Main, Fort Scott.
Fresenius Medical Care of Fort Scott, the only dialysis clinic in the community, is closing September 30.
Shirley Irvin, a representative of Fresenius, did verify that the center will close on September 30. A formal statement from the company was not available at publishing time.
“I have talked to Fresenius,” Fort Scott City Manager Dave Martin, said. “They haven’t made money to the point of, they can’t stay open.”
“We are reaching out to see where we are able to help,” Martin said. “CHC (Community Health Center, who has a medical clinic in Fort Scott) and Via Christi ( who has an emergency department in Fort Scott) can’t provide the service, but they are helping me look at options.”
The closing will impact patients and their families that have been served at the center in Fort Scott.
Several family members were waiting on their loved ones at the center on Friday afternoon.
One young lady helped her father-in-law in a wheelchair into their car.
She stated that the family lives in Moran and now will have to drive to Chanute, Pittsburg or Nevada, MO for dialysis.
Another woman was waiting in the waiting room for her husband, whom she said just started dialysis last week.
She stated that her husband will, hopefully, be finished with his dialysis by the end of the month. His treatment was in response to an infection. They live in Missouri.
The following is a quote from a KOAM News segment on July 24, 2019:
“An executive order from President Trump gives the secretary of health and human services a number of deadlines to deal with kidney disease patients.
“In thirty days after July 10th, 2019, he is to pick payment models for kidney care providers to increase treatments for at-risk patients, home dialysis, and transplants.
“In ninety days to propose regulation to enhance procurement and utilization of organs; revise rules for procuring and using organs and to remove financial barriers to donation.
“And in 120 days to start an awareness initiative.
“Then in 180 days to expedite kidney matching and reduce the organ discard rate.”
Click below the recent KOAM News story on the subject:
https://www.koamnewsnow.com/news/home-dialysis-encouraged-in-trump-executive-order/1099450079
See President Trump’s executive order on advancing kidney health:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-advancing-american-kidney-health/
An excerpt from Trump’s order:
“Kidney disease was the ninth-leading cause of death in the United States in 2017. Approximately 37 million Americans have chronic kidney disease and more than 726,000 have ESRD. More than 100,000 Americans begin dialysis each year to treat ESRD. Twenty percent die within a year; fifty percent die within 5 years. Currently, nearly 100,000 Americans are on the waiting list to receive a kidney transplant.”