West End Dialysis Center responds
2/9/2018, 10:25 p.m.
Re “ ‘I was handed a death sentence’: Advocates help NAACP stalwart Ora Lomax receive life-saving dialysis after a Henrico center moves to terminate her treatment,” Free Press Feb. 1-3 edition:
The article by Jeremy Lazarus failed to provide the clinic an appropriate time to respond to the story before it was published and failed to verify the information reported.
The West End Dialysis Center and its staff pride themselves on providing a supportive, welcoming and safe environment for patients receiving dialysis treatment for end stage renal disease, as well as for the staff who treat them. Involuntary discharges are rare and a measure of last resort that happen only after all other options have been exhausted.
The decision to involuntarily discharge Mrs. Lomax from our clinic was not an easy one. She has been a patient of ours for more than a decade and we care about her health and well-being.
Consistent with our policies, we notified Mrs. Lomax and support networks about her discharge, and offered assistance with transferring care to another center.
We have identified a clinic in the Richmond area at which Mrs. Lomax can dialyze and hope she will consider this option.
KATHERINE SARISEN
Regional Vice President
Fresenius Kidney Care
Roanoke
