Thanks to our donors’ generous support, we were able to build the Chronic Disease Innovation Center at Seven Oaks General Hospital, which was awarded the 2020 UNIVANTS of Healthcare Excellence Award for creating a national, sustainable platform for diagnosing and treating kidney disease specifically in Indigenous communities throughout Manitoba. The team led by Paul Komenda, Chronic Disease Innovation Centre at Seven Oaks General Hospital; Barry Lavalee, Diabetes Integration Project; Adeera Levin, University of British Columbia, CANSOLVE CKD; Binh Nguyen, eQoL; Abdul Razaq and A.H. Sokoro, Shared Health Manitoba created a comprehensive screening, triage, and treatment initiative that brought preventative care to rural and remote Indigenous communities in Manitoba.
Wanting to highlight the disproportionate availability of care available to most Indigenous communities, due to distance, finances, and culture, Kidney Check was created as a first step to offering preventative measures for underserved communities that are at a higher risk for kidney disease, diabetes, and hypertension. The Kidney Check was performed across 11 communities and reached almost 6000 patients, 68% of which were considered high risk. Due to increased awareness, 100% of these patients were provided personalized health plans that included medical support, education, and counselling, severely lacking in these communities. This improved the experience for the patients helped to foster a sense of ownership from the medical community, and resulted in improved outcomes and reduced risk of long-term complications.
The Kidney Check program was extended to parts of Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan and is working towards easing risk mitigation through early detection and intervention. All patients seen in these communities were referred to the Chronic Disease Innovation Centre at Seven Oaks General Hospital for subsequent care.
To donate to this program and help provide access to support for those in need please call 204-632-3552.