N.S. considering building modular dialysis units

Nova Scotia is considering designing and building all the parts needed to create six to 12 chair dialysis units that can be placed in communities that need in-centre hemodialysis treatment.

The idea has been kicked around since 2019, but only recently got the go-ahead from the Houston government.

"Government has responded and I'm hoping it's a go, but we're doing a feasibility study project right now to make sure that we can do it," said David Landry, head of the province's renal program. "I hope, in six months to a year, I'll have positive news that we can do this."

The concept under review is called Design for Manufacture and Assembly. Like building a prefab home, the components for the dialyses units would be designed and made indoors, then shipped to their new home communities, where they would be assembled.

Based on such hospital construction projects in Ontario and Quebec, Landry hoped the process could reduce the time it now takes to design and build new units — about four to five years.

"I think we could cut it down by half," Landry told CBC News.

Building hemodialysis units this way would be a first in Canada.

David Benoit, the Department of Health's senior official on the project, laid out some of the reasons it should be faster to build dialysis units in this way.

"Some of the benefits include an improved scheduled adherence, because you're able to actually manufacture the building in a controlled environment," said Benoit. "You can have replication of processes and procedures which then should lead to a quality product at the end of that in a shorter amount of time.

"Effectively what we're trying to do is replicate what we've seen in lots of other different sectors around the globe, and that's to be able to design something, manufacture it off site and then install it where we need it to be."

Another big benefit, according to Benoit, was being able to build onto or next to existing structures without disrupting ongoing services.

The province is spending $790,400 to create a design and find out if it works. If the project succeeds, the next step is to see if these modular units would work for Springhill, Port Hawkesbury, New Glasgow and Barrington or Shelburne.

Landry said the units would meet existing or growing demand for in-centre hemodialysis in those parts of the province.

"We do know historically in this province we've grown about four per cent per year," said Landry. "So based on the numbers I just gave you, after another 12 months we'll have another extra 35 to 40 patients (needing dialysis)."

There are currently 17 dialysis in-centre hemodialysis units across the province to provide care to the 700 Nova Scotians whose kidneys no longer work. Another 180 people whose kidneys have failed are looking after their own treatments through the province's home dialysis program.