Renal anaemia clinic opened at Mandeville Regional Hospital

The Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA) has implemented a renal anaemia clinic at the Mandeville Regional Hospital in Manchester to manage and monitor renal patients who normally end up being hospitalised because of issues related to low blood levels.

The clinic is the only one of its kind in Jamaica and is opened every Wednesday.  

SRHA says the anaemia clinic will serves some 179 patients, who will be provided with blood and iron transfusion and erythropoietin injections to assist with keeping their blood levels within the normal range.  

SRHA Regional Technical Director, Dr Vitillius Holder, explained that if kidneys are damaged, they produce less of a hormone called erythropoietin which is needed to make red blood cells.  

This results in fewer cells being made and causes anaemia.  

Anaemia is a common complication of kidney disease.  

“Red blood cells contain haemoglobin which carries oxygen around your body. Kidney disease also affects the way in which your body uses iron. If you have kidney disease you may therefore need more iron to make the same amount of haemoglobin as people without kidney disease. We recognised many patients with renal impairment were being hospitalised so we implemented the clinic as a tool to monitor and manage these patients. This helps to keep many patients out of hospital,” Holder said.  

SRHA regional director, Michael Bent, commended Nurse Manager, Marika Davis Miller, and her team at the hospital for the wonderful job they have been doing at the anaemia clinic and also the renal clinic.  

“As an authority, we continue to leverage our resources and develop programmes and initiatives to provide quality and effective healthcare to our clients. However, while we manage our patients in hospitals and clinics, I want to appeal to Jamaicans to take better care of their health in preventing or reducing the risks of non-communicable diseases which can result in conditions such as kidney failure, which is costly to treat. I want to also encourage persons who already have these complications to speak with our healthcare providers about managing these conditions so they do not get worse,” Bent said. 

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