Bob and McKenzie Burpee got their first glimpse recently of a project long dear to their hearts.

They entered a spacious, revamped room at St. Charles Bend with large windows framing mountains to the west. The room is undoubtedly a medical one, but it calms with earth-toned walls, artwork and flowers. And they were greeted by a chorus of happy hellos from staff who have come to know them over the years.

“Oh, the view … ” McKenzie Burpee said, gazing out the window. “I think it’s fabulous.”

St. Charles Bend patients with kidney issues can now receive treatment in a warmer, more welcoming environment. The hospital this month opened its new inpatient dialysis center, and it’s considered a significant improvement from the hospital’s former cramped, windowless space.

The $1.2 million project has been supported by the hospital, the St. Charles Foundation and the Burpees. The Sunriver couple first pitched the idea of a new center roughly five years ago and offered a donation. McKenzie has lived with kidney disease for 14 years and has at times required inpatient dialysis at the hospital.

Dialysis does some of the filtering and excess fluid removal normally performed by the kidneys. There are different types of dialysis. Sometimes it takes place in a medical facility, while certain situations allow for dialysis at home.

While Bob stopped by regularly during the remodeling phase to peek in on the project, he said the aim of advocating for the center wasn’t to seek attention or solely to help his wife. He credited the foundation for working hard to make the project happen. He said he and his wife, through personal experience, have compassion for those struggling with kidney disease.

“We did this because most of the people who are dialysis patients don’t have a voice,” he said.

A new center

The new inpatient dialysis center is considered an upgrade in technology, capacity and comfort for patients.

It’s also a piece of a remodeling effort at St. Charles Bend. The project began with converting what was once a bed storage area into the inpatient dialysis facility. The second half of it, now under way, is turning the smaller, vacated space into another intensive care unit room.

Kirk Schueler, chief administrative officer for St. Charles Health System, said adding one more ICU room — bringing the Bend total to 18 — will mean less of a chance that all the beds are full. That presently happens on occasion, and then patients must be transported away from their families and over the mountains to facilities in Portland or Eugene.

“We don’t ever want to have to do that,” Schueler said.

The center largely serves those who are admitted to the hospital — inpatient — rather than those who undergo dialysis several times a week and then go home.

It also performs more specialized treatments, said Mary Paulson, a nurse who has worked in dialysis for several decades.

When Paulson first began at St. Charles, she said, inpatient dialysis took place in a converted closet with a cart. Then it moved to its own room.

The new center has six dialysis chairs available, all heated, instead of the three in the previous room. A makeshift fourth was sometimes added when necessary, shoved in front of the nursing station, Paulson said.

One of the chairs is in a separate room, in case a patient with an infectious condition needs to remain isolated from the others.

The comfort of the patients is of particular importance in dialysis, Paulson said, because they must sit in the chair for three to four hours, on average.

Thus, the room is equipped with Wi-Fi, televisions and headphones. There is also a waiting area nearby for family, a new addition.

Local couple’s cause

The inpatient dialysis staff know the Burpees well, as McKenzie has been in and out of the hospital over the years.

Bob said McKenzie’s situation is interesting, as she never had some of the more common triggers for kidney disease, like obesity or diabetes. She isn’t a candidate for a transplant.

The Burpees also think the public should know more about chronic kidney disease, which is when the kidneys gradually lose their ability to filter waste products and excess fluids from the body. It’s the nation’s eighth-leading cause of death, according to the National Kidney Foundation, and more than 397,000 people depend on dialysis treatment to survive. Roughly 73 million Americans are at risk of developing the disease, and 26 million don’t know they already have it.

The couple had long had a home in Sunriver. After McKenzie’s diagnosis, Bob said they felt the care was better here than in California and decided to move permanently.

“The facilities didn’t have anything to do with the care the patients got,” Bob said of St. Charles Bend. “We love the people.”

Bob and McKenzie said they believe patients and staff will do even better in this new environment.

During the inaugural visit, the Burpees and staff visited like old friends. Toward the end, Bob hugged one of the nurses.

“You deserve this,” Bob said.

“We have something the community and St. Charles can be really proud of.”