It's Patients Day at Rotary HDC

The Rotary Club of Johor Baru Haemodialysis Centre (RCJB HDC) welcomes the public to join patients and their families on its annual Patients Day held on Sept 30 and Oct 1 at the Rotary Haemodialysis Centre in Johor Baru.

Some Rotary spouses on their visit to the
Rotary Club of JB Haemodialysis Centre

On Patients Day, all are welcome to visit the Centre from 9am to 5pm to cheer up and encourage the patients who undergo regular haemodialysis treatment at the Centre.

The RCJB HDC is the first NGO-operated Haemodialysis Centre in the region, initially set up in Wisma Abad, Century Gardens as a community service project in 1991 before they moved to the present premises in 2003. 

Then Sultan of Johor, Sultan Iskandar, officially declared the Rotary Haemodialysis & Hospice Center open in March 2004 and it continues to operate as a Centre licensed by the Ministry of Health.

Now seven other Rotary clubs in Johor operate haemodialysis centres while more than 20 such centres have been established by other charitable organisations in Johor.

Kidney or renal failure is a medical condition where the kidneys fail to adequately filter toxins and waste products from the blood while haemodialysis is a method for removing waste products and filtering toxins from the blood, using a special filter called a dialyser that functions as an artificial kidney. 

As an extensive water purification system is absolutely critical for haemodialysis, this Centre is installed with a Reverse Osmosis machine and 3,000-litre tank upstairs with a 1,200-litre tank downstairs.

The Centre has 18 haemodialysis machines operating on two floors and a separate treatment facility for Hepatitis B Virus patients.

Compared to the rates charges by private hospitals, patients registered with RCJB HDC pay a highly subsidised rate of only RM110 per treatment.

The centre helps 60 financially challenged patients return to near normal lives after each treatment so that they can continue with their work and take care of their families.

Welcome to the RCJB HDC on Patients Day, located at No. 4-N, Jalan Tun Abdul Razak, Susur 3, 80200 Johor Baru.  For enquiries, Tel: 607 – 222 2433.

A version of this was published in The Malaysian Insider on 30 Sept 2015