Dialysis center going up
Construction on 24-bed facility to begin in '07

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

Pueblo of Acoma Gov. Jason Johnson signs an agreement with Dialysis Clinic Inc. to construct a 24-chair dialysis facility to replace the existing six-chair operation next to the Acoma-Cononcito-Laguna Hospital in Acomita. Construction on the 8,000 square foot building is scheduled for early 2007 at an extimated cost of $1.6 million. [Courtesy Photo]

PUEBLO OF ACOMA — Gov. Jason Johnson, Pueblo of Acoma, signed a lease agreement Thursday afternoon with Dialysis Clinic Inc., to build a much needed 24-bed dialysis center at the Acoma-Canoncito-Laguna Indian Hospital on the pueblo.

The center will offer dialysis to American Indians who suffer from kidney disease caused by diabetes, which is plaguing Native Americans as well as other races.

Johnson spoke of the need for the dialysis for Native Americans, not just Acomas, which has been in the planning stages for the past eight years, said Phil Robertson, spokesman for Acoma Business Enterprises, the business arm of the pueblo's tribal government

The building will be 8,000 square feet and construction starts immediately. It will cost $1.6 million and be completed by early in 2007, Robertson said.

DCI will construct the building on land owned by the tribe, making the agreement a "land agreement," he said.

Currently the patient load is overwhelming for the dialysis clinic's six beds, often turning patients away forcing them to drive to the dialysis clinic in Grants or in Albuquerque.

Once the new clinic is built, it should handle the current and future additional dialysis patient load for years.

Additional jobs will be created as well, Robertson, said.

There will not only be the nurses who are needed, but doctors, housekeeping, the people who are at the front desk and so on, he said.

As early as 1997, the Acoma Tribal Council determined there was a need for a dialysis clinic expended facility, according to information provided by Robertson.

Diabetes is a chronic disease which affectrs not only the young but older individuals. It has two types: Type I, or juvenile diabetes; and Type II, diabetes mellitus, which is acquired as an adult.

Diabetes is a disease which affects the blood glucose in the body. The pancrease does not manufacture enough insulin to effectively use the glucose in the body resulting in higher blood sugar levels which lead to blindness, heart problems, loss of circulation in legs often resulting in amputation and kidney disease, requiring dialysis.

Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The disease grows at a rate of about 10 percent of the population per year.

The six bed unit currently operating at ACL Hospital has a waiting list of 30 patients.

DCI operates more than 200 dialysis units nationwide, including eight in New Mexico.

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin, call (505) 287-2197 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.