[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 115 (Tuesday, July 31, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S5728]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        NORTHWEST KIDNEY CENTERS

 Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, today I wish to congratulate 
Northwest Kidney Centers on its 50th Anniversary. Northwest Kidney 
Centers was established as the first out-of-hospital dialysis program 
in the world, opening its doors in Seattle, WA, on January 8, 1962.
  Just 2 years after the development of the Teflon shunt at the 
University of Washington, community leaders in Seattle came together to 
raise money and find a space to establish a center to deliver dialysis 
treatments outside of a hospital, which led to the creation of the 
community-based Northwest Kidney Centers.
  Chronic kidney disease is now an epidemic, affecting one in seven 
American adults. Northwest Kidney Centers is working to reverse this 
trend, focusing on community education and prevention. Each year, 
Northwest Kidney Centers allocates funding toward public health 
education about kidney disease and organ donation, participating in 
outreach events and reaching more than 12,000 people with kidney 
information. It also developed a ``Living Well with CKD'' program which 
offers classes on treatment options and good nutrition. This program 
reaches nearly 1,000 pre-dialysis patients and family members each 
year, at no cost to the participants.
  I take great pride in the fact that Seattle is the birthplace of 
chronic dialysis treatments and that Northwest Kidney Centers continues 
to take the lead on developments in the field. Northwest Kidney Centers 
hosted clinical trials to develop the anti-anemia drug Epogen, and set 
up the Northwest Organ Procurement Agency. In 2008, Northwest Kidney 
Centers spearheaded the creation of the Kidney Research Institute, a 
collaboration with the University of Washington Medical School which 
has become a scientific leader focusing on ways to prevent, detect, 
treat, and eventually cure kidney disease.
  I applaud Northwest Kidney Centers for its contributions to the State 
of Washington and the kidney disease and dialysis field as a whole. As 
the organization celebrates its 50th Anniversary, I extend my 
congratulations to the entire Northwest Kidney Centers community--
patients, physicians, employees, supporters and volunteers--and thank 
them for their dedication and commitment to improving the lives of 
kidney patients in my State.

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