Spencer Hospital to Open New Dialysis Center

posted on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 in General

For more than 20 years, people in need of life-sustaining dialysis treatments have been able to receive care at the Warner Dialysis Center of Spencer Hospital, located within the hospital. In July, patients will transfer to a newly renovated facility located at 1721 West 18th Street, designed to meet the growing demand for services and to provide more convenient access to care.

“Our patients and healthcare team are so excited to move into the new facility,” said Danette Forbes, dialysis services director. “With the move, we’ll increase the number of treatment stations from eight to 14, with space to add more stations, if needed.”

Forbes anticipates the facility will begin operation in mid-July. Prior to opening for patient care, the public is invited to an open house and tour on Tuesday, July 10 between 4:30-6:30 PM.

Spencer Hospital president Bill Bumgarner commented: “In 1994, Spencer Hospital opened the Milton & Ethel Warner Dialysis Unit in a newly renovated hospital space.  It has truly been a case of ‘If you build it, they will come’ as the number of patients served by Spencer Hospital dialysis services has continued to increase over the years.”

In 2002 the hospital opened a second Warner Dialysis Center located in Spirit Lake to better accommodate people who had been traveling from the northern tier counties of Iowa. Also, the original dialysis center within the hospital has been remodeled several times over the years.

Yet, Bumgarner said when the hospital had the opportunity to purchase the former Iowa Eye Care Center on West 18th Street, it fit well into the hospital’s strategic planning to find a larger space which offered more convenient access to its patients undergoing dialysis care three times each week.

Both the Spencer and Spirit Lake locations are named after Milt and Ethel Warner.  They were longtime Spencer residents and community leaders who made a generous donation to the Spencer Regional Healthcare Foundation to support offering dialysis services locally.