News

June 2009

RELEASE UPON RECEIPT June 24, 2009

For more information, contact:    Blair K. Sartory Communications Specialist Community Relations Department 618-257-5932

Memorial Hospital Continues to Bridge the Gap
Between Hospitals and Patients with New DaVita “Patient Pathway Program"

 

(Belleville, IL) New and existing dialysis patients at Memorial Hospital are receiving additional support when faced with choosing a proper plan for kidney dialysis treatment. The Patient Pathway Program, which began at Memorial on June 15, works to provide dialysis patients with exceptional guidance in determining the type of care they receive.

With the program comes the addition of Vickie Ogden, Memorial’s new Dialysis Liaison. She is a contract employee of DaVita, and is in place to meet with patients, explain their options and make sure they are at the proper facility, receiving the proper care. This program is the only one of its kind in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

“My position will serve as a bridge between the hospital and its patients,” says Ogden. Ogden, who has an education in social work, will see all dialysis patients and counsel them on issues related to their access to dialysis centers, options for dialysis treatment as well as educational and financial counseling.

“This program brings a new aspect to the continuity of care patients receive. In addition to giving patients more interaction, clinics will be provided with additional patient information that may not have been shared in the past,” says Heather Corbitt, Manager of Social Services at Memorial.

DaVita provides dialysis services for those diagnosed with chronic kidney failure. The company is located in 43 states and the District of Columbia and has over 1,400 outpatient dialysis facilities and acute units in over 700 hospitals.

For more information on Memorial Hospital and the DaVita Patient Pathway Program, contact Heather Corbitt at 618-257-5424.

         

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