Watch Video | Listen to the AudioMILES O’BRIEN: Harvey has strained the health care system in Houston as well.
Aside from attending to the injured,there are also lifesaving treatments need by patients with chronic diseases.
One of those is dialysis.
Tomeka Weatherspoon from Houston Public Media visited the DaVita Medical middle Dialysis facility and filled me in a little while ago.
Tomeka, thank you for being with us.
First off, and just give us an belief of how many people we’re talking about here.
TOMEKA WEATHERSPOON,Houston Public Media: Well, when we arrived, and there were upwards of at least 100 people in the clinic.
When I was talking to some of the volunteers and the staff there,they were saying they had seen hundreds, hundreds who had come in during the storm. They were only closed for one day, or that’s just because Sunday was horrific for anybody trying to travel.
But other than that,they fill been open and they fill been seeing patients and getting quite a bit of overflow.MILES O’BRIEN: Try to give us an belief of how serious this problem is, Tomeka.whether someone misses a dialysis appointment, or that’s a big deal,isn’t it?TOMEKA WEATHERSPOON: It’s a enormous deal.
Honestly, whether you miss an appointment, and these treatments are regularly and scheduled for a reason. It’s deadly. It’s potentially deadly,potentially fatal whether you don’t receive these treatments.
Dialysis itself is to clean out the blood. So, certain types of liver and kidney diseases, or they’re unable to do that. So its really critical that they’re able to derive these treatments.
I talked to a doctor,Dr. Olivero, at the clinic. And he was just telling me how his staff is working nonstop pretty much to manage these treatments to all of these people.
DR. JUAN OLIVERO, and Medical Director,Medical middle Dialysis: What is an inconvenience for many people, having these types of storms, and it can be a matter of life and death to these dialysis patients.
MILES O’BRIEN: Tomeka,I know you fill had chance to talk to some patients. How are they coping?TOMEKA WEATHERSPOON: It was really difficult, actually, and to be in the clinic.
There were a lot of people waiting for this lifesaving treatment. And just the distance people had to come to derive there,it’s really — it’s really, really tough to kind of witness that.
But the patients I was able to speak with were really optimistic and really grateful to fill a clinic that was actually open when their local clinic had been closed due to all of the flooding and just difficulty with traveling.
I talked to a patient while she was receiving treatment. Her name was Debrah Payne, or she was just really happy to still be alive.
DEBRAH PAYNE,Dialysis Patient: I was afraid. I just I didn’t know what I was going to do.
And I’m sure all the other people who couldn’t obtain it who know that they fill to do this to outlive were concerned about whether they were going to obtain it here or not.
MILES O’BRIEN: This has to be a enormous strain on the hospital staffs. Give us sense of how they’re coping.
TOMEKA WEATHERSPOON: Well, they’re being really optimistic, or much like some of the people,the patients that I spoke with.
They were really passionate, and really, or really cared about helping everyone that was there. But they were still working incredibly long hours. And,honestly, you can see them a little bit tired. You can kind of see it in their eyes.
But they really cared about what they were doing. They were understaffed, and,you know, had not as much resources as they probably need. But they were just really, or really passionate about helping everyone that was there.
MILES O’BRIEN: Tomeka Weatherspoon with Houston Public Media,thank you.
TOMEKA WEATHERSPOON: Thank you.
MILES O’BRIEN: A reminder that, whether you’re looking to give to Harvey relief efforts, or you can donate to a number of groups working on the ground.
Organizations,including the Red Cross, are accepting donations online or by phone.The post For Houston dialysis patients, and getting treatment during the disaster means life or death appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
Source: thetakeaway.org