Every Drop Counts; New RO System Enhancing Dialysis Care in Durham Region

Lakeridge Health’s Regional Nephrology Program supports patients across Durham Region. In addition to training and guiding patients completing in-home dialysis treatments, patients can receive in-centre dialysis treatments at Lakeridge Gardens, and Lakeridge Health Oshawa and Whitby.

A key component to providing this life-sustaining care is the Reverse Osmosis (RO) Water System. The RO System is essential to creating the ultra-pure water needed for dialysis treatments, filtering out bacteria, viruses, naturally occurring materials and other contaminants.

In 2025-26, Lakeridge Health Foundation was proud to support the replacement of the RO System at The Howard and Stephanie Humphrey Dialysis Centre at our Whitby Hospital through donor support of our Nephrology Program.

“The services we provide here are extremely important to our Region,” explains Anna-Marie Sutherland, Director, Regional Nephrology & Diabetes Program. “We provide life-sustaining treatment to more than 350 patients across the program, not only at the Whitby site.”

Hemodialysis mimics the functions of the kidneys by cleaning the blood. When a patient’s kidneys are damaged or no longer functional, a hemodialysis machine filters the patient’s blood. This provides critical support and improved quality of life.

The previous RO System in Whitby had served dialysis patients in our community for more than a decade. In addition to the increased reliability of new technology, the new system benefits the entire Nephrology team.

“The new system requires less hands-on manipulation when disinfecting it,” says Jeromey Shortt, Sr. Biomedical Technologist. “The new system definitely saves our team time and is safer for patients. There is also less rejected water, so it reduces waste, and we can monitor it remotely if we’re off-site.”

“It’s not a piece of equipment a patient would recognize, but it’s so important,” adds Dr. Charles Wei, Medical Director and Division Head of Lakeridge Health Regional Nephrology Program. “It’s the engine of our program. If we didn’t have a reliable system, the impact on patient care would be enormous.”

Once the new RO System was purchased, things moved quickly. With the old system continuing to support patients, the new system was brought on-site, installed, and tested in the background. Fittingly, the work to prepare the new system took place throughout March, National Kidney Month.

By the beginning of April, the new system was up and running.

“It was seamless,” smiles Anna-Marie. “This project was the result of extensive upfront planning and collaboration. Our expert team, including out Biomedical Technologists supported the project from start to finish.it from inception to completion. Nick Ricciotti and the Capital Planning team were exceptional. This is a major advancement for our program and for the patients we serve.”

Patients receive dialysis treatments at Lakeridge Health three times a week for four hours at a time. The stability provided by the new RO System is a huge benefit to medical experts and patients going forward.

“Peace of mind and quality,” Anna-Marie responds when asked about the new system’s benefits. “We’re providing a service that is needed. These treatments are not optional for our patients. Ensuring they can consistently depend on us is a fundamental responsibility.”

“The reliability and increased capacity of this new RO system will give us confidence in providing uninterrupted, life-sustaining hemodialysis therapy to the patients in this Region,” adds Dr. Wei.

We are most grateful to the donors who made this incredible update possible.

“Our sincere gratitude to our donors for their incredible support,” said Anna‑Marie. “We are so excited to be able to upgrade this system, and I truly can’t thank you enough for helping us continue to provide this vital, specialized care to our community.”