Unicamp inaugurated yesterday (2), a new hall for carrying out hemodialysis at the Integrated Nephrology Center (CIN) of the Hospital de Clínicas (HC). Equipped with a high-tech system for ultrapurifying the water used in procedures, the new space has 18 hemodialysis terminals and an area of 250m², twice the size of the previous one. With the investment in technology, the CIN, which has been operating since 2003, now offers an even safer environment for patients. The hall is named after Gentil Alves Filho, a pioneering professor of kidney transplantation at Unicamp.
“This hemodialysis area will serve adult and pediatric patients and support the complex’s inpatient and outpatient units. It was practically completely redone and incorporates cutting-edge technology, with emphasis on a high-performance water treatment system, known as double-step reverse osmosis”, says Professor Rodrigo Bueno de Oliveira, coordinator of the dialysis unit at CIN. .
Hemodialysis is a procedure that removes toxic substances from the body, and is performed on people who have kidney failure, that is, who have lost the natural function of their kidneys. "To stay alive, they need to replace their kidney function through hemodialysis. We treat people who no longer have kidney function and who stay alive through this artificial method of blood purification", explains the professor.
At each hemodialysis session, the patient receives 120 to 200 liters of water, which needs to be ultrapure, without substances present in common water treatment, such as aluminum, chloramine, fluoride, copper and zinc, so that there is no risk. In this way, the new system is celebrated by CIN professionals and users. In order to remove contaminants, the technology implemented in the new salon includes several stages of water filtration: sand cylinder, activated carbon, two double-pass reverse osmosis membranes, endotoxin filter, ultraviolet light treatment and ozone treatment. For the work on the space, which also has central air conditioning, a medical gas system and a team service island, R$750 were invested by Unicamp. Service, as in all HC, is via the Unified Health System (SUS).
With requalification, according to Rodrigo, “patients, in their treatment, will have an absolutely adequate, healthy environment, within sanitary standards, and will count, as they always have, on professionals of excellence recognized in Brazil and internationally”. The professor also highlights the benefits that the new space will bring to teaching and research in the health area. “In addition to the care function, there is a very important function for teaching new doctors in undergraduate, specialization, residency in adult and pediatric nephrology, for teaching other professionals who work in this area and for research.”
CIN's Director of Nursing, Silvia Angelica Jorge, also highlights the improvements in the dynamics of the environment, which becomes more welcoming for patients and more suitable for professionals' activities. “In this room, nurses can see all the patients at the same time. Before there were two rooms and now it is concentrated in one.”
In addition to the new hall, a small square was opened in front of the site, designed to accommodate family members of patients undergoing hemodialysis, a procedure that takes around four hours and needs to be done three or more times a week. The rector of Unicamp, Marcelo Knobel, highlighted, during the ceremony, the excellent quality of the new area. “The service was excellent and will bring not only benefits and less risk of contamination, with better quality, but also more adequate service,” he said.
Tribute to Gentil Alves Filho
The hall is named Gentil Alves Filho, in honor of the Unicamp professor who founded CIN and was responsible for the first kidney transplant at the University. Gentil's story is remembered by Jose Butori Lopes de Faria, head of the Nephrology Area and the Discipline of Nephrology at the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Unicamp. “[He] was one of the people who started this here and commented that when he arrived at Unicamp, at the time the Hospital das Clínicas did not exist, it operated in Santa Casa, he received a small bathroom to be renovated and hemodialysis to be installed. So we started from a small bathroom to everything we have today".
