A dialysis unit promised for Slave Lake won’t be open by Christmas. In fact ground-breaking for the building to house the dialysis machines in the community won’t happen until the spring of next year, an official from MLA Pearl Calahasen’s office admitted last week.
“Initially we’d hoped that it could be fit into available space at the existing health complex,” the MLA’s executive assistant Carol Dillman told The Leader last week.
“But it appears they’ll have to build a separate building connected to the hospital to house the dialysis unit.
“We’d hoped the unit could be set up sooner than later, and do realize that every day that passes (without the dialysis machines) means heartache for people and their families,” she added.
Dillman says the need for special water lines prompted the need for a separate building.
Debbie Gordon, the Northern Alberta Renal Dialysis representative – and the lady responsible for setting up satellite dialysis units could not be reached for comment last week.
But responding to an earlier Letter to the Editor in The Leader last week, Aspen Health Authority CEO Robert Cable said a “high grade sophisticated water treatment system is integral to operating these units so we cannot simply tie into existing water lines...or simply plunk units in an unoccupied space.”
Early diabetes detection In other health matters, Dillman says Alberta Health and Wellness is helping with early detection of diabetes with a mobile screening clinic.
The clinic has been traveling across the province during the past year.
“It’ll be a real boost for northern communities” where residents don’t get to see doctors as often as most and the illness could go undetected in early stages.
And while the program is targeting aboriginal populations because of the high incidence rate, Health and Wellness spokesman John Tuckwell says mobile screening is aimed at Metis settlements.
First Nations reserves fall under the federal government’s responsibility” and works with known diabetics, he added.
The provincial program offers screening tests and lifestyle counseling for individuals who are considered a high risks, or already have diabete

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