Eight nearly new kidney dialysis clinics in Kansas continue to be largely unused because the state has yet to inspect and certify them, according to the Kansas City Star.
Some of the new clinics have been awaiting state Medicare certification for more than two years. Without certification the clinics are unable to accept Medicare, which covers 85 percent of patients on dialysis for kidney failure.
Kansas attributes the delay in state certification to a decrease in federal funding for inspectors in prior years that led to turnover in the inspection force and a backlog for new dialysis clinics. By federal law, other facility certifications take precedence over dialysis clinics.
"It's really not fair that they [patients] have to wait to get in and it's really not fair if you're dialyzing farther away from you and this unit is ready and waiting three blocks down the street," Syd Stevens, administrator of Midwest Nephrology Consultants, told the Kansas City Star.
The clinics awaiting certification in Kansas are located in Olathe, Garden City, Pittsburg, Manhattan, Lexina and Kansas City. Additionally, there are two clinics that have yet to be certified in Topeka, including one that has been waiting since October 2015. The clinic in Olathe has been waiting for Medicare certification since January 2016. The Olathe-based clinic has the ability to service 70 patients; however, without certification it sees four.
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