Lachine Hospital opens dialysis unit after 20 years without one

Dialysis patients living on Montreal'sWest Island no longer need to travel downtown for treatment, now thatLachine Hospital has opened anewdialysis unit after months of delays.

The life-saving treatment, which removestoxins from the blood ofpeople with failing kidneys, hasn't been available in Lachine since 1996.

That's mean patients have had to commute to the Royal Victoria Hospital to be treated.

In fact, dialysis was the only service left at the old Royal Vic building after the rest of the hospitalmoved to the MUHCsuperhospital'sGlencampus last year.

At a news conference Friday, Health MinisterGatanBarrette said dialysis was moved toLachineto make life easier forthe West Island's aging population.

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It's good news for Muriel Gibson, who undergoes dialysisthree times a week. For the last 13 years, this has meant travelling from her home inLachinetodowntown Montreal.

Now she only needs to travelfive minutes from home.

The $3.9-milliondialysis unit has 15 stations and can treat as many as90 patients a week.

TheMUHChad originally planned to open a satellite dialysis cliniconDcarieBoulevardclose to the Glen campus by April 2015, but the provincial health ministryputthe brakes on thatproject.

The health centre then planned a new unit at theLachineHospital instead, but management said having to draw up contingencies led to several months' of delays.