Dialysis patients in Shoshone County who have grown accustomed to receiving treatment locally will be disappointed to find out that the U.S. Renal Care Silver Valley Dialysis in Smelterville will be closing next week.

On April, 26, U.S. Renal Care (the company that operates the clinic) sent a letter to the Smelterville mayor Tom Benson explaining the details of the closure.

“To ensure that this facility is in regulatory compliance, in respect to staffing, a decision was made to suspend treatments. We took great care to ensure that all patients and staff were notified and transferred to one of our other full-service dialysis clinics – Hayden Dialysis and Post Falls Dialysis – less than an hour from Smelterville.”

As for the Smelterville location, U.S. Renal Care is uncertain about if and when the facility will open again.

“With respect to the Silver Valley dialysis clinic and its future, a decision will be made regarding continuing service after a more diligent review. As a member of this community we will do everything to ensure that the patients who used Silver Valley Dialysis’ services, as well as residents who may in the future need this life saving treatment, have access to U.S. Renal Care’s quality care, treatment schedule and medical team.”

While this may be an inconvenience for residents who utilize the facility, neither Shoshone County or the State of Idaho is a hotbed for kidney disease.

According to a study from Kidney.org, Idaho ranks last in the number of patients per million who receive dialysis treatment.

This particular study put Idaho in a group along with Alaska, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

At 775 patients per million people, the Pacific Northwest region is less than half of the leading region containing Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee (1,537 patient per million people) and according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than eight percent of the population in each of those states also has diagnosed diabetes, the leading cause of kidney disease.

If you have questions about the closure or are looking for another facility, call the Hayden clinic at 208-762-7724.