[Peace-discuss] Rally for Dialysis Patients' Rights!

[Brooke Anderson]

Dear friends,

Please come show your support!

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     Rally for Dialysis Patients' Rights!
     Wednesday, June 23 at Noon -- RAIN OR SHINE!!
     NE Corner of University Avenue and Wright Streets
     Urbana, IL

     (a half block in front of the Champaign-Urbana Dialysis Center,
     located on Provena Covenant Medical Center's campus in the new
     medical building, and across the street from the UIUC Beckman
     Center)

     TO RSVP, OR SIGN ON TO THE PETITION, VISIT:
     http://www.prairienet.org/cchcc/Dialysis/dialysis.html

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Dialysis Patients and Caregivers are calling on the Dialysis Center 
and its owner, RRI, to:

   --- Communicate directly with patients and caregivers about their 
			concerns!
   --- Provide adequate and safe staffing levels, and fair working 
conditions for nurses and technicians (put an end to understaffing!)
   --- Stop forcing patients to bring, take home, and launder their 
own blankets and linens (provide linens! It is a public health risk 
not to!)
   --- Stop restricting caregivers to visit patients in the unit for 
only 10 minutes (allow caregivers in the unit!)
   --- Stop banning patients from eating while on dialysis (diabetic 
patients should not have to go 5 hours without food!)

Dialysis Patients and Caregivers are also calling for changes in 
state and federal regulations that govern dialysis quality of care!

Background: Dialysis patients and caregivers at the Champaign-Urbana 
Dialysis Center (located on the Provena campus, and owned and 
operated by Renal Research Institute - RRI) have been experiencing 
problems with quality of care as a result of harmful policies at the 
Dialysis Center and inadequate staffing. Problems with the Dialysis 
Center have been ongoing for several years since Provena sold its 
dialysis practice to RRI, and the company and local management refuse 
to address the patients' concerns and reverse harmful policies. The 
problems have been severe enough that patient complaints resulted in 
an investigation by Medicare and the IL Dept. of Public Health in 
August 2003. Medicare found "deficiencies" that resulted in a 
"serious and immediate threat" to patient health and safety. Medicare 
wrote that "We have determined that the deficiencies limit the 
capacity of your facility to render adequate care and ensure the 
health and safety of your patients." Patients are reporting some of 
the same problems that led to the initial investigation and findings, 
and new policies have been put in place that patients feel are 
harmful and violate their rights. Dialysis patients and their 
caregivers need your support in their efforts to call on the Dialysis 
Center to change their policies and to provide quality care to 
patients and ensure good working conditions for the nurses and 
technicians that care for the patients.

For more information, or to get involved, please contact:

   Claudia Lennhoff at
   Champaign County Health Care Consumers
   44 East Main Street, Suite #208 * Champaign, IL 61820
   Phone= (217) 352-6533, ext. 11   Email= claudia at shout.net

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Brooke Anderson
Champaign County Health Care Consumers
44 E. Main St., Suite 208
Champaign, IL 61820
Phone = (217) 352-6533, x 17
Fax = (217) 352-9745
Email = brooke at shout.net
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