Almost half of the dialysis patients at Dubbo Hospital are Aboriginal, making a smoking ceremony in its new $6.5 million renal unit on Wednesday imperative.
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Lewis Burns "cleansed" the completed unit for patients who asked for the ceremony in the lead-up to its December 9 opening.
Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD) chief executive Scott McLachlan attended the ceremony at the unit he calls the "best" in the world.
"This is absolutely stunning," Mr McLachlan said after Mr Burns spread smoke throughout the unit.
"I think it really is the best renal unit in the world.
"We've just had a team go and look at new developments in health in the US (United States), Canada, Europe and other places, and this is really world class.
"We know that when people end up on renal dialysis they are really crook and they need a lot of help and honestly this is the best place in the world to come to."
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The new renal unit is a far cry from the existing and confined unit, operating out of an old theatre.
Gail O'Brien, nurse manager of the hospital's renal unit and others in the north and west of the region, thinks the new facility will lift patients' spirits.
"I think the patients will like it because they've got the big windows to look out," she said.
"Everything is bright and clean and new.
They've got their own TV and a big open unit where they can see us and we can see them.
"Someone has built something for them. They will be tickled pink."
The new unit includes 14 dialysis chairs, two rooms where patients will get home dialysis training, two consultation rooms and an "expansion zone" made possible with funding from the "hospital and the LHD", says Ms O'Brien.
She said the unit could have a total of 20 dialysis chairs in the future making it the "biggest dialysis unit in the LHD".
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Plans are afoot to decorate the new unit with Indigenous art and hand out stickers allowing its patients exclusive use of eight designated car-parking spaces beside the Talbragar Building.
The new unit, which will offer life-saving treatment to patients from Dubbo and regional and remote areas of Western NSW, has been built above the extended day surgery unit in the Talbragar Building.
Renal physician Dr Colin McClintock is confident the new unit will importantly create a better "patient experience" and provide the basis for the delivery of "the highest possible standards of dialysis and renal care".
The new renal unit has been built under the state government's $150 million stage three and four redevelopment of the hospital.
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The old renal unit will make way for the construction of the $35 million Western Cancer Centre, a project launched with a $25 million commitment from the federal government.