R-M staff
Some dialysis patients who receive treatment in Perry County will soon have to find an alternative.
According to a statement issued Tuesday, Fresenius Kidney Care, which operates the Perry County Dialysis Center located at 12 N. Kingshighway St. in Perryville, has made the decision to close the facility.
“Like most healthcare providers in the U.S., we are facing a challenging economic environment and we’ve made the difficult decision to close the Perry County dialysis facility,” said Robert Hayden, Mississippi River Valley Regional vice president. “We have ensured all those who need dialysis treatment are being accommodated at other Fresenius Kidney Care centers in the area and all staff have been reassigned to those centers. Some patients will also have the option to transition to home dialysis if they’re able and interested.”
When contacted by phone and email, Hayden declined to answer questions regarding the number of patients and staff that would be affected by the closure, but stetted that the facility’s final day of treatment would be July 31.
The Perry County center, which had operated under a partnership with Perry County Health System for a number of years, is one of 2,400 facilities nationwide operated by Fresenius — including 153 in Missouri — that serve more than 190,000 patients.
The nearest facilities to Perry County include Cape Girardeau, Farmington, and Festus in Missouri, and Chester, Carbondale and DuQuoin in Illinois.
“Ultimately, the decision on where to receive treatment is up to the patient,” Hayden said in his statement. “Our priority remains providing safe, high-quality, and life-sustaining dialysis treatments to our patients and our care teams work hard every day to provide premium care to those battling kidney disease.”
