By Stephen Smoot
To the Hardy and Pendleton County Commissions last week, three representatives from the Hardy County Committee On Aging came to ask for help in bringing in a kidney dialysis center that will make area patients and their caregivers’ lives much easier..
These included Bill Ours and Greg Greenwalt, who both serve on the Board of Directors, as well as Mike Crites who is executive director of the organization. They presented to the Pendleton County Commission on Monday
“We appreciate the opportunity to present to you this morning,” stated Greenwalt. He explained that Hardy County once enjoyed having a dialysis center that was central to those living in the southern half of the Potomac Highlands region, but that the center had since relocated to Keyser.
Recently, however, another company had expressed interest in placing a new dialysis center in Moorefield.
One of the sticking points, however, had come in a pledge from the outgoing Hardy County Committee on Aging executive director.
To entice the center to locate in the former Health Department building, part of a complex owned by the Committee on Aging, a promise was made to allow the company operating the dialysis center to get a year of rent in the building paid.
The Committee on Aging has determined that conditions have changed and that they can no longer afford to simply forego the rent.
Greenwalt told the Pendleton County Commission that the group would approach every local government entity in the affected region to request financial support if possible, moral support if not. He asked at the very least if a letter of support could be obtained “to get it up and running because it’s needed.”
Crites offered supporting statistics, including the high rates of diabetes and renal failure in West Virginia. High blood sugar over a long period of time can create high levels of creatinine, which can undermine kidney function and lead to renal failure.
For most, travel to Keyser is too difficult for patients and those who assist them. Greenwalt shared that the group had spoken with Janice Lantz from Pendleton Senior and Family Services first as a courtesy before meeting with the Pendleton County Commission. He stated that Lantz shared that it is “easier for (Pendleton County seniors) to travel to Moorefield than Harrisonburg.
Later in the week, Dave Workman, President of the Hardy County Commission, shared that he knew of kidney patients in Mathias who were blocked from crossing state lines to get service in Harrisonburg. The difference between the round trips for a patient in Mathias is approximately an hour longer to go to Keyser than Harrisonburg.
The group shared that they will also approach the Town of Moorefield and the Grant and Hardy County commissions. By coincidence, Mayor Bob Horan of the Town of Franklin was in the gallery to speak to the Commission on a separate matter and also heard the presentation.
After the group left, Commissioners and others in the gallery discussed the proposal. Dahmer offered “I think we ought to give them something.” Commissioner Jimmie Bennett concurred and cited the hardship of many patients in trying to get to Keyser.
Dr. King Seger, a retired Franklin pediatrician also in the audience, shared “I think it makes a lot of sense” to assist them.
Carl Hevener, Pendleton County Commission President, stated that rides offered for medical services by Potomac Valley Transit Authority could transport more such patients more efficiently if they only had to run them to Moorefield.
All spoke positively about supporting the effort with Hevener floating ideas of how to do it fairly. No commitment, however, was yet made.
