'This Is Surreal': Houston Dialysis Center Struggles To Treat Patients
People with kidney failure typically need dialysis every other day to stay healthy. Delays in treatment can quickly become life-threatening.
Among the most pressing medical needs facing Houston at the moment: getting people to dialysis treatment.
At DaVita Med Center Dialysis on Tuesday afternoon, nurses tended to dozens of patients on dialysis machines while another 100 people waited their turn. Some were clearly uncomfortable, and a number said they hadn't been dialyzed in four days.
Those delays can be life-threatening.
Typically, patientsevery other day, or three times a week, for four hours each time. To try to move more people through, nurses were doing two-hour sessions at this center in Houston, enough to keep patients out of danger.
