Located on Maui Lani Parkway near Kaiser Permanente's Maui Lani Clinic, the facility will have 48 stations to provide dialysis treatments to patients currently being served at the 20-bed former St. Francis clinic near Maui Memorial Medical Center and at a five-bed satellite center at the Wailuku Millyard.

Among the new clinic's features are a high-tech water filtration system for dialysis treatments and flat-screen televisions and wireless Internet access for the comfort of patients who need to visit three to four days a week for three to five hours at a time.

Arita/Poulson General Contracting built the facility.

When the new clinic is fully operational in mid-August — a grand opening is scheduled for Aug. 16 — the two old Wailuku clinics will close, according to Melissa Souza, Liberty Dialysis' regional director for Maui County.

Liberty took over dialysis treatments from St. Francis Medical Center in January 2006. Responding to high demand, it opened the satellite facility at the Millyard a few months later.

"We were at maximum capacity pretty much," Souza said.

The former St. Francis clinic has been serving about 140 patients, and the Millyard facility has more than 20 patients, she said. Liberty also operates clinics in Kahana and on Molokai, each with about 30 patients. Visitors in need of dialysis have been and will continue to be treated, she said.

Fewer than five patients are Hana residents, she said. Efforts are ongoing by Hana residents to establish a dialysis treatment facility there, and Liberty has offered technical support and other assistance, Souza said.

Patients suffering from kidney failure require dialysis to clear their blood of waste products normally filtered by kidneys. A dialysis patient normally requires treatment three times a week. Clinics have been open six days a week, with some patients beginning treatment as early as 5:30 a.m.

The new clinic will continue providing service six days a week (closed on Sundays), but with more stations open patients can be seen by the clinic's staff of 44 from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., instead of staying open beyond midnight as has been necessary – with the clinic staff needing an hour before opening and after closing to set up and clean.

In a back room at the new clinic, a new water filtration system delivers "ultra-pure" water for use in dialysis machines. A microfiltration system will make water endotoxin free, said James Bates, Liberty's state director of technical services.

Endotoxins are substances produced by bacteria and can penetrate the filters used in hemodialysis systems.

"We're going another step further in preventing endotoxin exposure to the patient," he said.

Despite cramped quarters and a limited number of stations for dialysis treatment, Liberty has been able to keep pace with current demand, Souza said.

"We have been able to keep our doors open," she said. "We have not turned away any patients."

All 48 dialysis stations at the new clinic won't be used as soon as the new clinic opens, she said. At first, only 36 stations will be used, with ample space for expanded services.

"It gives us so much more flexibility to meet the patients' needs," Souza said. "It's a big plus for the community . . . We've waited a long time for this. I hope this is the last facility we ever have to build on Maui."

As medical advances make clear the importance of early intervention for patients at risk or in the early stages of kidney failure, Souza said she hopes "we won't need so many units in Hawaii."

In Hawaii, there are 31 percent more patients on dialysis than the national average, she said. There is an estimated 200,000 people statewide with undiagnosed chronic renal failure, according to the National Kidney Foundation.

Next month, Native Hawaiian specialist Kahu Charles Kauluwehi Maxwell Sr. will bless the facility, which will be needed by a Native Hawaiian community too often afflicted with health problems requiring dialysis.

"Native Hawaiians are the most affected with diabetes and all the ailments," said Maxwell, although he added he'd like to see more emphasis on the "whole health picture for Native Hawaiians . . . what they're eating and their lifestyle" as a way to improved health.

Brian Perry can be reached at bperry@mauinews.com.