Dialysis Patients and Advocates Obtain Public Health Inspection Records of CU Dialysis Center
Group Discusses Findings of “Serious and Immediate Threat,” and Calls on Elected Officials for Help as Dialysis Unit Faces Medicare Decertification
On Monday, November 17, 2003 at 10 a.m., local dialysis patients, family members, and advocates held a press conference to discuss inspection records of the Champaign Urbana Dialysis Unit(formerly the Provena Covenant Dialysis Unit). The inspection records were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act Request by the Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) from the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The IDPH inspection records detail findings of a “serious and immediate threat at Champaign Urbana Dialysis Center” and a determination that even after that threat was corrected, other “deficiencies limit the capacity” of CU Dialysis Center “to render adequate care and ensure the health and safety of your patients.” Because of these findings, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services notified the facility that, if the problems are not corrected by November 20, the facility will be terminated from its participation in the Medicare program.
CU Dialysis Center patients and family members called on Senators Durbin and Fitzgerald, and Rep. Tim Johnson for help in the event that the dialysis unit is decertified, and to ensure that future patient complaints receive timely and appropriate attention from regulatory agencies and the Renal Research Institute (RRI) which owns and operates the CU Dialysis Center.
Press Conference Materials: