SUMMERSIDE — Prince County Hospital’s new kidney dialysis unit officially opened Friday, and one Prince County resident is already crying foul over Charlottetown patients being booked for prime appointment times.

Michael Gallant lives in St. Gilbert, near Wellington, and faces a 30-minute drive to his 7:30 a.m. appointments that begin at the new clinic next week. He said new Charlottetown patients are being booked for most afternoon appointments at PCH until the capital’s new dialysis unit opens.

“I have no objections to that, but to send them down and take our priority times and the best days... that doesn’t make sense,” Gallant said.

“I’m 44. I have a life outside of dialysis.”

There are currently 78 patients receiving dialysis across the Island, a number the province’s health department says is sure to increase in the coming years.

Heart disease and diabetes, underlying contributors to kidney disease, are both on the rise on P.E.I.

The department hopes to offset the resulting increase in dialysis patients with new treatment centres in Summerside and at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Charlottetown patients currently receive dialysis at Beach Grove Home.

New dialysis patients from the capital are being booked into the PCH facility until the QEH unit opens, likely in mid to late June.

But Cecil Villard, Health P.E.I.’s director of long-term and home-based care, said the Charlottetown residents aren’t getting all the plum appointments.

“There’s no cherry-picking going on,” he said.

“We don’t have room to dialyze everybody in Charlottetown right now, so we’ve got seven or eight people that are travelling from Charlottetown to Summerside to be dialyzed. It’s a matter of really trying to make the best out of a difficult situation right now.”

Villard said the department is doing its best to accommodate everyone, but there will always be some who are inconvenienced. He wasn’t able to comment on whether the PCH dialysis unit would be flexible enough to accommodate conflicting schedules.

Gallant said he was informed earlier this week that his appointment schedule would change to Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings instead of Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons.

He said that’s not enough notice for a dialysis schedule that doesn’t fit his timeframe.

“I can’t go Tuesday ... and I can’t go on the weekends. They’ll say, ‘It’s up to you, these are your times and you’re putting your health at risk.’ No I’m not. You’re putting my health at risk.”

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