Dialysis doctor seeks new awareness

Elair McLaughlin, Head Nurse in Charge of Dialysis, 
stands with Dr Fritz Hendriks, the Medical Head of the 
Dialysis Unit

Dr Fritz Hendriks consults with patient Tammy 
Parsons-Sibaja in the Dialysis Unit at the Hospital of 
the Cayman Islands

Esther Ebanks, Jo-Anne Taylor, Carlene Vassell-Webb, 
Dr Hendriks, Jan Barnett, Elair McLaughlin, and Martin 
Gallagher make up the members of staff at the 
Dialysis Unit (left to right in picture)

by Brian Buckley

Thursday, July 22, 2004

Last October the Hospital of the Cayman Islands stepped up its efforts to provide better services in the Dialysis Unit with the hiring of Dr Fritz Hendricks as Medical Head of their Unit.

Dr Hendricks, a nephrologist trained in the Netherlands, had spent the last seven years in Aruba, where he played a critical role in educating the public on issues surrounding kidney-related issues.

A specialist in kidney diseases, kidney transplantations, and dialysis therapy, he also helped arrange for the transport of patients awaiting kidney transplants to the Netherlands.

Once, he travelled with a woman awaiting a transplant who had never flown before and was scared about doing so. Her transplant was a success, and the woman now travels the world.

He began studying his profession at Leiden University in 1968, the year after Eurotransplant, an international organ exchange centre started in Leiden.

After more than twenty years in hospitals in the Netherlands, the Minister of Health in Aruba wanted a doctor in 1997 to head their Dialysis Center. Dr Hendricks welcomed the opportunity, and has worked in the Caribbean since then.

“I arrived in Aruba early that year and was confronted with the same situation that I encountered in Grand Cayman. There was no nephrologist to look after the dialysis patients, and there was no structural line to a transplant centre overseas for the patients,” Dr Hendricks said.

When he took his position in Aruba, he had promised to leave when a qualified Aruban doctor would be able to take over his position. Dr Hendricks believed then, as he does now, that when a local doctor can step in to help a hospital, it is much better for any island location.

If a Caymanian nephrologist applied for his position, he would gladly step down.

“This is how it should be, to have a child of the island fill this position,” he said.

During his time in Aruba he was able to set up a working relationship with a hospital in Maastricht for transplant patients. Based on that experience, Dr Hendricks said: “I think it is very important that Grand Cayman selects one transplant centre overseas for the upcoming years.
“That way each hospital learns from and gains knowledge from each other, while also building confidence in the relationship.”

As part of working toward this goal, he has visited several programs in the United States. He thinks highly of St Luke’s Hospital in Houston, due to its excellent program and team.

Yet Dr Hendricks himself is not certain if building a relationship with a hospital in the United States is the answer.

“Foreigners receive only five per cent of the organ transplants in the United States and the waiting time is long,” he said.

British link could be more beneficial to Cayman than any United States agreement

Since the Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory, Dr Hendricks believes this country should make an agreement with Britain through its long-standing political relationship, and establish a working relationship with a hospital in the UK.

“I have been to UK Transplant in Bristol many times, and it would be easy for me to help Grand Cayman with a transplant line like I did between Aruba and the Netherlands,” he said.

If the Cayman Islands entered a working relationship with a transplant centre overseas, as Dr Hendricks suggested, donation of organs here would most likely have to be reciprocal.

Furthermore, a donor program in these islands would need to be established.

Since his arrival at the hospital last October, Dr Hendricks has been nothing but impressed.

“It is a great place to work with a fantastic staff. The staff of nurses in medical, surgical, and ICU is incredible. The hospital’s new computerised databank system means there’s even no more paper work,” he added.

“The Board of the Hospital has been very active since I have been here. The Board supplied the Dialysis Unit with financial help and up-to-date equipment.

“The number of nurses in the unit has doubled, which has been very important. Just last week a new control system was installed in the unit.”

The Caribbean has one of the world’s highest rates of kidney disease. Diabetes, hypertension, and diet all contribute to this high rate. 

The number of people receiving dialysis has been growing by ten per cent each year for the past four years.

Tammy Parsons-Sibaja, a patient in the dialysis unit, said she was very pleased with the care she receives at the hospital.

She said: “I have to keep a positive attitude, and the nurses are all concerned that I receive the best treatment and care.”

In the ten months since his arrival, the dialysis unit has doubled its operating time from three days a week to six, with Dr Hendricks meeting patients on Thursday mornings.

Drop-in education sessions for both dialysis patients and also family members are due to begin on 22 July, while further details can be obtained from 244-2769.

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