DaVita Dialysis Center expected to open in Annandale by the end of the year

A DaVita Dialysis Center in Greenville, Tenn. [Aquilano Leslie Inc.]

The DaVita Dialysis Center under construction in the Annandale Shopping Center is expected to open on Dec. 17, says Corey Riley, facility administrator.

The center will provide 18 dialysis stations for people whose kidneys no longer work due to severe diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension, or other diseases, Riley says.

The DaVita Dialysis Center in the Arlington Forest Shopping Center.

Dialysis involves removing waste, salt, and extra water from a patient’s blood through an external filter and pumping the blood back into the body. The process takes about four hours.

It’s a life-sustaining procedure that patients must endure for the rest of their lives unless they get a kidney transplant.

The Annandale DaVita Center will be similar to one that opened in 2011 on the site of a former curtain shop at 405 First St. North, Arlington.

That center has served people of all ages – ranging from 18 to 103 – but most patients are in the 60s and 70s, Riley says.

The Annandale center will have the capacity to serve 125 people, including clients who undergo peritoneal dialysis at home during the night while they sleep.

For patients served at the center, there will be three shifts a day, beginning at 6 a.m., 10 a.m., and 3 p.m., with up to 18 people per shift. People can choose to come in on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday or Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The Annandale Center will have about 17 employees.

During dialysis, patients will have access to personal TVs and the Internet. Some people are able to work on a laptop; others take naps or socialize. “It’s like a family,” as patients spend so much time with one another, Riley says. The Arlington center is hosting a picnic for patients and their families on Sept. 19.

DaVita centers also offer educational classes, and there’s a nutritionist on site to help with meal planning adapted to patients’ culinary culture. People with diabetes need high-protein, low-sodium, and low-phosphorus diets.

DaVita centers also offer free educational sessions for the public at places like libraries or hospital conference rooms. Fourteen percent of the U.S. population is affected by chronic kidney disease, and many people are unaware that they have it, as there are no symptoms in the early stages.