Transplant Program’s Request for BP Cuff Funding Gets

Approved by the Kidney Foundation of Canada

Patient Advocacy at Its Best

Galo Meliton, RN, C Neph (C) Chief Senior News Correspondent

Great news! The Kidney Foundation of Canada (KFOC) Central Ontario Branch has recently approved the request from the St. Michael’s Hospital Kidney Transplant Program for funding toward blood pressure (BP) cuffs/machines for those kidney transplant recipients who cannot afford them. Patients would need to meet household income eligibility requirements set by the KFOC Short Term Financial Assistance Program. Also all other funding sources (i.e. ODSP) would have to be exhausted first. The program’s Social Worker, Sharon Lee would assist in the application process.

Income is one of the many factors that can have an influence on health. A BP machine is an out-ofpocket expense that some of our patients could not otherwise afford. The program continually looks for ways to partner with and advocate for our patients.

By way of background on how this came about, as many of you are aware, during the height of the covid-19 pandemic, the post kidney transplant clinic at St. Michael’s Hospital, much like a lot of other clinics at the Hospital if not the entire city, adopted a system whereby patients were “seen” in clinic over the phone. We would ask patients for their blood pressure measurement done at home for the clinic visit, much like we would check their BP if it were an in- person visit.

The RN’s heard from patients that they did not have their BP as they had no machines and that they could not afford to buy one. Galo Meliton, RN, asked Sharon Lee if there is any available funding from the KFOC in this regard. Consistent feedback that Sharon would get from them was that the available funding is reserved for home dialysis patients. Galo then thought of asking Dr. Prasad and Sharon to write the KFOC a letter on behalf of our patients who would not be able to afford a BP machine.

The letter in part, says, “Post-kidney transplant hypertension is a major cause of morbidity and mortality, due to its association with increased kidney transplant failure and cardiovascular events. Kidney transplant recipients greatly benefit from close BP monitoring and therapeutic intervention to normalize their BP. Home BP monitoring and reporting is a vital component of this effort.”

The response we received from KFOC was a very positive one, as previously described. Michelle Gabriel, Clinical Leader Manager of the Post- Kidney Transplant Clinic, said, “Congratulations to Galo, Sharon, and Dr. Prasad for being able to acquire this funding for those deserving in our patient population; this is patient advocacy at its best. This is an out-of-pocket expense that several of our patients could not otherwise afford.”