LVMC Treats First Dialysis Patient

Just more than a month after being licensed by the California Department of Public Health to provide inpatient dialysis for patients with kidney-related complications, LVMC treated its first patient.

Lompoc resident Ronald Linton came to the hospital this week for treatment of health problems unrelated to his chronic kidney disease.

“I was really happy to see this service. I consider it very valuable,” he said.

His wife of 41 years, Ginny, chimed in, “Life-saving.”

When he learned he was the first dialysis patient at the hospital, Mr. Linton sent his wife a text message with a celebratory icon stating “YAY!”

He said he was “honored” to be the first dialysis patient.

“I was really happy to see this service. I consider it very valuable,” he said.

Kidney dialysis is the process of removing excess water, solutes, and toxins from the blood in people whose kidneys can no longer perform the functions naturally. It may also be called renal replacement therapy.

Mr. Linton said he was excited because it had been inconvenient to go out of town to another hospital if he needed surgery or medical treatment while also undergoing dialysis.

“It’s a good thing the community has this additional resource,” he added. 

A quarter-century ago, Mr. Linton suffered from kidney cancer and lost one kidney. He did not need dialysis until about five years ago and now gets treatment three times each week. With the need for such routine dialysis, Mr. Linton said he was “very, very happy to see this” service at the hospital because many people in the community are receiving dialysis.

“There’s one bed and one machine (at the hospital) now. I’m hoping with time we’ll see two to three chairs,” he added.

The dialysis program is coordinated by a committee which includes Dr. Bindu Kamal, Dr. Andrew Ross, and Registered Nurse and Lead Dialysis Coordinator Raymond Go. Other team members and Dialysis Registered Nurses are Teresa Go, Irene Russo, Melinda Capella, Sharon Syed and John Sullivan. Melinda DeHoyos is director of the Medical-Surgical Department where the unit is based.