One in five Indigenous Chamorros in the Northern Mariana Islands has diabetes, and the demand for dialysis is growing. But the only dialysis centers are on the capital island of Saipan.
Kidney failure afflicts Pacific Islanders at much higher rates, but for reasons that some say amount to discrimination, they don’t get transplants as often.
Hiki i ka hana ke kāpae i ka huakaʻi hoʻoluhi a hoʻēmi i ka paʻapū ʻana ma nā kikowaena hoʻomaʻemaʻe koko e nui aʻe ana ma ka mokuʻāina.
Thomas Alba attended his thrice-weekly dialysis sessions for more than a decade before receiving what physicians term an "involuntary discharge."
The new facility is expected to open in November 2023 and will have 18 hemodialysis stations.
ProPublica reporter Duaa Eldeib and oncologist Dr. Kashyap Patel describe the still-unfolding crisis.
More states are lifting or reforming regulations governing the opening of new dialysis facilities.
The treatment can help eliminate exhausting commutes and relieve overcrowding at a growing number of dialysis centers in the state.
Ua paʻakikī ʻē ka hele ʻana i ka hoʻomaʻemaʻe koko ʻia ʻana no kekahi mau kupa kuaʻāina. Kuhi ʻia, e hoʻopilikia ana ka piʻi ʻilikai i kēia mau mea.
Getting to and from dialysis is already a challenge for some rural Hawaii residents. Sea level rise is expected to make things worse.
