Top officials of the Bryan Administration and Schneider Regional Medical Center celebrated the completed expansion of the St. Thomas kidney dialysis unit. A ribbon-cutting event was held Wednesday afternoon at the Roy L. Schneider Hospital.
Wednesday's gathering marked the end of a year-long effort to add 12 more hemodialysis units to the second-floor space that those with advanced kidney disease rely on. Schneider Regional Chief Executive Officer Tina Comissiong said the additional units will allow the hospital to break its reliance on outside health providers to care for kidney patients on St. Thomas and St. John.
A similar expansion project is being planned for the Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital on St. Croix, officials said.
"This expansion is a wonderful and significant investment in the health and future of the Virgin Islands," Comissiong said. "Hemodialysis is a life-sustaining treatment that approximately 130 persons in the St. Thomas-St. John district need."
Up to 60 more patients can now be accommodated, the med center chief said. The dialysis unit nurse administrator said over the years, she has kept a list of patients asking for care at Schneider Hospital.
"Within weeks of working in the hemodialysis unit I had developed a waiting list of patients wanting to come home for care or just wanting to come to SRMC hemodialysis unit. I received numerous calls and emails about patients needing a seat, and many times I had to tell them I'm sorry; we don't have any more seats," said Nurse Administrator Anesta Hodge.
But now, with the expansion, she said, the 77 patients currently receiving care will be joined by "many, many more," Hodge said.
One of the accommodations SRMC officials said they now hope to make is for visiting kidney patients who live abroad but want to come home to attend family functions and possibly for travelers needing care while on vacation.
In his remarks, Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said he was grateful to attend the event and to hear from patients who have been able to return from off-island; he also gave thanks for dedicated professionals like Hodge and others -- like Comissiong -- who serve in leadership.
"We have to really salute our health care heroes -- all of them from the ones who actually administer the care to the ones that perform the maintenance ... because we have been through some incredible trials over the last seven years in health care," Bryan said.
Lt. Gov. Tregenza Roach pointed to the strides being made to improve health care services and restore facilities like the Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Institute. "I am just very proud of being part of this experience, being able to show appreciation to all of those people who are involved, and to continue to work towards a vision and a reality where we can give the best care to people who live in this territory and also be able to care for others who visit us," Roach said.
Sen. Ray Fonseca, chairman of the 35th Legislature Committee on Health, Hospitals and Human Services, spoke about the value of the work to expand kidney care services.
"You know, kidney dialysis, we have to be able to treat our own right here in the community. As we stand now there are still about 15 Virgin Islanders off island and they cannot return here for this same reason," Fonseca said.
Contractors at Apex Construction and Bluewater Construction were praised for seeing the expansion project through to completion. SRMC Vice President of Facilities and Engineering Peter John-Baptiste said the work began in November 2023 and proceeded step-by-step to completion a few weeks ago.
"We had some challenges; we had to find finances to finish the project. We worked with OMB to identify the funds to finish the project, but once the funds were identified everything went smoothly," John-Baptiste said, adding that the contractors were in place and ready to go as soon as the arrangements were put in place.