Dialysis clinic undamaged after Maui fire, but power, water keep doors shut
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Key takeaways:
- The fire that ravaged Lahaina in Maui, Hawaii, and killed more than 100 people spared the only dialysis clinic in town.
- Lack of electricity and access to water will keep Rainbow Dialysis closed for now.
A dialysis clinic that remained undamaged after a fire destroyed most of the historic town of Lahaina on the island of Maui, Hawaii, last month remains closed because electricity and access to water have not been restored.
“We have no [estimated time] for when the clinic will re-open,” Greg Schlais, MBA, Esq, general manager of Hawaii market development and operations for Satellite Healthcare, told Healio. “It all depends on power and water restoration,” he said. “The water is there, but the county is testing it.”
Schlais oversees Satellite’s management agreement with Rainbow Dialysis, which is a subsidiary of Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, to operate two clinics in Maui, including the one in Lahaina. That center has six stations and can serve up to 36 patients.
The fire destroyed the town, which has over 10,000 residents and dates to the 1800s, when it was the first capital of Maui. It was one of four major wildfires that had started on the island on Aug. 4, according to news reports. The Lahaina fire – the most devastating of the blazes – started on Aug. 8 and burned an estimated 2,170 of 3,453 acres on the island, according to Maui officials and the county government website.
Residents of Lahaina and surrounding areas have been told by public health authorities to use only potable or bottled water for drinking until the town’s water system has been tested.
Clinic protected
Schlais, who lives on Oahu but oversees all operations in Hawaii, including Maui, was not in Lahaina when the town caught fire, said the clinic was in a new shopping center, and the modern structure provided some fire protection. Another shopping center below the clinic received no damage from the fire, Schlais said, and provided further protection.
The area also had a bypass road that may have helped to redirect the fire away from the clinic, and the area was surrounded by land that had been cleared for residential development. “I think the natural firebreaks of the construction and the bypass road helped spare us” from the fire, Schlais said.
The dialysis center’s staff were able to relocate patients to other clinics in the area for treatment, including Kaiser’s second Rainbow Dialysis clinic and one operated by Fresenius Medical Care. “There was a lot of collaboration among providers to take care of our patients,” Schlais said.
He was grateful that no patients or staff were in the clinic when the fire began. “The Lahaina clinic operates Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays,” Schlais said. “The fire broke out on Tuesday, so no one was in the clinic. We were lucky.”
All patients and staff have been impacted by the fire. “A good majority of them lost their homes and loved ones, unfortunately,” Schlais said. “Many of our patients are now in surrounding areas and in temporary housing, and most of our staff are, too.”
Disaster relief
The American Kidney Fund (AKF) has made disaster relief funds available for patients on dialysis or with a transplant who live in Maui. “Our thoughts are with all those who are affected by these destructive wildfires,” LaVarne A. Burton, AKF president and CEO, said in a press release. “In emergency situations like this, in which patients have had to flee their homes, they shouldn’t have to worry about how they will afford to continue receiving the lifesaving treatments they need.
“AKF is ready to quickly provide financial support to dialysis and post-transplant patients who have been impacted by the Maui wildfires,” Burton said.
The AKF is providing emergency grants of up to $200 per patient to replace lost medications and renal diet foods, pay for temporary housing and transportation to treatment, and replace clothing and personal essentials, according to the release.
The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) has partnered with Direct Relief, a nonprofit humanitarian aid organization that responds to natural disasters and other emergencies, to establish a fund to support people with kidney diseases, their families and their caregivers, as well as nephrologists and other health professionals, affected by the wildfires in Maui. ASN has contributed the first $10,000 to the fund, according to a press release.
Direct Relief has sent shipments to Maui filled with diabetes supplies, personal care items for people who are displaced from their homes, power banks, N95 masks and first-aid kits among other items, according to a website for the organization. A donation of naloxone, needles and syringes was also sent to the Hawaii Health and Harm Reduction Center, according to Direct Relief.
References:
American Kidney Fund activates disaster relief program to support dialysis and post-transplant patients affected by Maui wildfires. https://www.kidneyfund.org/article/american-kidney-fund-activates-disaster-relief-program-support-dialysis-and-post-transplant-patients-7. Published Aug. 10, 2023. Accessed Aug. 31, 2023.
How to help people in Maui, Hawaii, particularly those with kidney diseases https://www.asn-online.org/news/item.aspx?ID=360. Published Aug. 18, 2023. Accessed Aug. 31, 2023.
Maui wildfire disaster update. https://www.mauicounty.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=12792. Published Aug. 31, 2023. Accessed Aug. 31, 2023.