Groote Schuur is proud to announce a generous donation of R525 000 to its Renal Unit from Dr Arnold Tollman's family. Arnold Tollman, who was born in Cape Town, suffered from kidney disease for an extensive period of his life and required a kidney transplant. His brother, Stanley Tollman, and son, Gavin Tollman, wish to honor his memory and provide Groote Schuur Hospital with something it requires.
With the money donated, the following equipment will be purchased: multifiltrate machine, Aqua reverse osmosis, BCM body composition monitor, Edodosafe PTS reader and cartridge renatron dialyser reprocessing station.
This donation will provide essential state-of-the-art equipment for the treatment of patients with kidney failure. The multifiltrate machine will improve the care of patients with acute renal failure as it will avoid the use of anti-coagulants in patients requiring lifesaving dialysis with active bleeding. This will be a first for South Africa and put the academic units at the forefront of development of new treatments.
The renatron dialyser reprocessing station will enable the re-use of very expensive dialysers in patients with chronic renal failure and dramatically reduce costs and enable the hospital to treat more patients and save more lives. The estimated cost saving will be half a million rand per year in dialysis costs and will enable the administration to consider increasing patient numbers.
The aqua reverse osmosis will provide safer water for dialysis and avoid potential toxicity of untreated tap water. The BCM composition machine will enhance the assessment of dialysis patients and in this way improve their quality and length of life.
Western Cape Health Minister, Theuns Botha, expressed his gratitude to the Tollman family: "The cost of dialysis treatment per patient per year is about R200 000, which means dialysis will cost the country in the region of R5 billion per year in addition to the costs of pre-existing patients. It is not possible for government to offer treatment to all patients, therefore donations such as these make a significant difference in the treatment of kidney diseases in the Western Cape."
The donation will improve care for patients with acute and chronic renal failure, reduce costs and make treatment safer.