Dialysis patients in Pike County are going to have to travel farther to get treatment starting next year.
The Pike Press reports that the DaVita Dialysis Center located within Illini Hospital in Pittsfield is closing at the end of the year. Patients have been advised of the closing by mail.
Illini Hospital CEO Kathy Hull told the Pike Press that the hospital had nothing to do with the dialysis center other than they leased the 5-station treatment space . She says she doesn’t know of the reason why DaVita is closing the location.
Hull told the Pike Press that she speculates the reason the center may be closing is more people are going to at-home dialysis treatment or they are traveling to nearby dialysis centers in Quincy, Hannibal, and Jacksonville. Hull says she hopes to meet with Blessing Hospital to find an alternative to continue providing the service in Pike County.