Nathan Littauer Hospital breaks ground on dialysis center

PHOTOGRAPHER: Daniel Fitzsimmons

Nathan Littauer Hospital recently broke ground on a dialysis center that hospital officials hope to open by early next year.

The new center will be the first in Fulton County and one of only a few dialysis centers in the nation attached to both a hospital and a nursing home, which the hospital has on its campus, officials said.

The 7,000-square-foot center will include 12 dialysis stations, with one isolation station, and will treat approximately 60 patients a week. It will cost $3.5 million.

The center is being built in partnership with American Renal Associates and two of the organization’s doctors, Soo Lee and Hani Shahata.

“Drs. Lee and Shahata of American Renal Associates share our mission of providing world-class healthcare services to Fulton County,” said Nathan Littauer President and CEO Laurence E. Kelly. “Our ongoing partnership with these extraordinary doctors will increase our capacity to better serve our neighbors.”

According to a hospital press release, many dialysis patients have to travel hours for a treatment that can last up to four hours, three times a week. The hospital said its mission is to “provide world-class healthcare locally.”

Although the center will be an outpatient facility, Littauer officials said they’ve filed an application with the state Health Department to offer dialysis to patients admitted to the hospital. “The facility fully expects approval for this request,” the hospital said.

It’s anticipated that the center will open by Jan. 1.

“We are very excited about this venture with Littauer,” said Dr. Soo Lee in Littauer’s press release.