Renal services focuses on individual patient’s needs within the continuum of care. The hemodialysis patient spends three to six days per week, for three to five hours per visit at the clinic. The clinic is a home away from home. The Peritoneal Dialysis patient performs their dialysis in their home with the training and support of the Peritoneal Dialysis staff. The goal of the Kidney Care Clinic is to slow the progression of kidney failure and educate patients and their families for a healthy dialysis start.
In-centre Hemodialysis:
Phone: 705-728-9090 extension 24530
Fax: 705-739-5677
Location: 201 Georgian Drive, Barrie, On L4M 6M2
Peritoneal Dialysis/ Multi Care Kidney Clinic
Phone: 705-728-9090 ext. 24600
Fax: 705-728-8396
Hours of Operation
Monday – Saturday 7:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.
The RVH Dialysis Clinic provides dialysis treatments for travelling patients, which includes out of province and out of country treatments. Once the RVH nephrologist has given approval for transfer, the home dialysis unit will be contacted to provide an information package.
Please contact the Resource Nurse to request a transient treatment.
You can be attached to the machine in several different ways. The most commonly used methods are:
- Internal Fistula
- Internal Graft
- Central Venous Catheter
Internal Fistula
The fistula is the best method for providing access to the bloodstream. To make a fistula, an artery and a vein in your arm are surgically connected together. Fistulas can be used about 12 weeks after surgery. You will be encouraged to do some special exercise to help the fistula develop or mature. One exercise you can do after your stitches are out is squeeze a tennis ball or sponge many times daily.
Advantages
- Reduced incidence of clotting
- Reduced incidence of infection
- Requires less daily care from patient
- Avoids potential for allergic responses to synthetic materials
- Has a great longevity (70% over 3 years)
A fistula is considered to be the ideal choice of nephrologists and vascular surgeons.
Internal Graft
A graft is another common way of providing access to your bloodstream. A short piece of special tubing is placed under the skin to connect an artery and a vein. Grafts can normally be used within 2 to 4 week after surgery.
Advantages
- Can be used sooner than a fistula
- Provides large surface for cannulation
- Blood flow not dependent on vein maturation
Central Venous Catheter
This method is normally only used when the veins in the arms are too small to provide enough blood for hemodialysis, or when access to the bloodstream is needed quickly. It is used temporarily until a permanent access is ready. A central venous catheter is a soft tube which is inserted into a large vein. The most common used veins are the jugular vein at the side of the neck and the subclavian vein just underneath the collarbone. The advantage of a central venous catheter is that it can be used immediately.
We take blood from your fistula/graft or dialysis catheter once a month. This is for your routine blood tests. Your doctor and nurse will talk to you about these test results.
We also recommend that you have a chest x-ray and electrocardiogram (ECG) once a year. The chest X-ray checks for changes in your heart, lungs and bones. The ECG tells us if you are having any heart changes. These are not painful tests.
You can do some activities while having dialysis. For example, you may wish to:
- Utilize our entertainment system, T.V., Internet ($2.00 per visit)
- Read
- Knit
- Do a crossword
- Have visitors
- Play cards
Keep in mind that you cannot stand up during your treatments. Your nurse can talk to you about how active you can be during your dialysis.
Visitors
Visitors are welcome in the Renal Clinic. We ask visitors to leave the unit:
- When a patient is going on or coming off dialysis
- If there is an emergency in the unit
Eating properly is important when you are on dialysis. To feel well, you need to eat the right food. Your dietitian will help you plan a diet for your special needs.
Change in Appetite
When you first start dialysis, you may not feel like eating very much. As the dialysis removes the toxins from your body, your appetite should return. Please let the nurses know if you are having difficulty eating.
Why Do I Need to Be On A Special Diet?
Because your kidneys are not able to get rid of enough waste products and fluids, your blood and your body now have special needs. You will need to limit fluids and change your intake of certain foods in your diet. How well you feel will depend on:
- Eating the right kind and amounts of food from your diet
- Having the hemodialysis treatments your doctor orders for you
- Taking the medications your doctor orders for you.
Your diet is very important to your care. It is important that you have the right amount of nutrients, fluids, vitamins, and minerals each day. Some of the nutrients you may have to modify are potassium, phosphorus, calcium, protein and sodium. Your dietitian will help you plan your meals to make sure you get the proper balance.
Fluid
On dialysis, you may require a fluid restriction. The goal of fluid restriction is to help you feel comfortable before, during, and after your dialysis sessions. Even though your dialysis gets rid of excess fluid and waste in the body, it is not as effective as healthy kidneys. Going over your recommended fluid allowance can lead to too much fluid building up in your body between treatments. This build up causes swelling and increases your blood pressure, which makes your heart work harder. Too much fluid can build up in the lungs, making it difficult for you to breathe. Some people experience muscle cramping during dialysis when they gain too much fluid weight. Taking off too much fluid can also cause a drop in blood pressure, which can leave you feeling nauseated, dizzy, and weak after your treatment.
If you require a fluid restriction, here are a few hints:
- Use crushed ice mixed with very small amounts of fluid
- Use smaller cups and glasses
- Suck on hard candies or chew gum
- Rinse your mouth and brush teeth often
- Eat frozen grapes and other fruits that are low in potassium
- Eat less salt so you do not get thirsty
- Count frozen foods that melt when they are at room temperature as part of your fluid intake
Changes in Your Energy Levels
When you first start dialysis, your energy level is low. Having less hemoglobin in your blood or high toxin levels in your body makes you feel this way. As the dialysis removes the toxins, your energy returns. Many people feel tired right after dialysis but feel better about 2 hours later. Many people return to their former activities after they start dialysis.
**Starting February 28, 2022, the Multi-Care Kidney and Peritoneal Dialysis Clinic (MCKC/PD) at 66 Wellington Street will be relocated to room 3118 on Level 3 in Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre’s main campus (201 Georgian Drive, Barrie). Patients can access the new location by entering through the lower level Simcoe entrance to attend clinic visits, pick-up medications and drop off samples/specimens.**
The Multi Care Kidney Clinic goal is to maintain kidney function, delay onset kidney failure, and kidney health education.
Contact Us
If you would like further information on the Multi Care Kidney Clinic, contact us at 705-728-9090 Ext. 24601.
Kidney Function
The normal kidney performs many jobs. They remove extra water, waste products, and balance chemicals in our body. The kidneys also help control blood pressure, build strong bones, and make red blood cells for hemoglobin.
Some reasons our kidneys stop working are due to the effects of high blood pressure, diabetes, multiple kidney infections, injury, birth defects, certain medications and other kidney diseases.
When the kidneys start to fail, they are not able to clean the waste products from the blood. This creates a build of waste products in the blood, which causes you to feel bad. This is called uremia, which means “urine in the blood.”
Some common symptoms that you might feel are extreme fatigue, nausea and vomiting, shortness of breath, difficulty sleeping, and swelling in the feet, hands and face, and/or high blood pressure.
Dialysis
Once your kidneys are not functioning well enough to keep you feeling well, you will need to start dialysis. Dialysis is a procedure to treat kidney failure. It does some of the things that a normal kidney does, like remove extra water from the body and remove some of the waste products that have built up in the blood.
Multi Care Kidney Clinic Team
- Physicians and Nurses
- Dietitian
- Pharmacist
- Social worker
The RVH Nephrology Program provides care throughout the renal disease continuum. It is essential that the progression of renal failure is slow and controlled. Once kidney function is in the end stages of renal disease, hemodialysis and peritioneal dialysis treatment, kidney transplant, or palliative care are the options available for patients.
Benefits of the RVH Nephrology Program are far reaching. The program allows patients to receive dialysis treatments “close to home”.
Contact Us
For more information on Nephrology Services, contact us at 705-728-9090 Ext. 24600.
Clinic Visit
- Park at the ‘Volunteer and Patient’ lot outside of the Simcoe Entrance (Parking is $6.50 for an hour. Daily rates can be found at: https://www.rvh.on.ca/patients-visitors/parking-and-transportation/
- Enter the health centre through the Simcoe Entrance and complete the screening process
- You will register at the self-registration kiosk and follow the printed instructions
- Proceed to room 3118 on Level 3
Picking up medications and dropping off specimens (Monday to Friday 8:00 am – 4:00 pm)
- Park at the Simcoe entrance round-about
- Ensure you have your convenience pass displayed on your dashboard. This pass is available to you and will be distributed to you by a member of your care team.
- Enter the health centre through the Simcoe Entrance and complete the screening process
- Proceed to room 3118 on Level 3