Babajide Salako, MD is CEO of the Dialysis Care Center.

Tell us about your organization and the work you do there.

Dialysis Care Center is a rapidly growing dialysis provider, offering all lines of services with a special focus on home therapies.

What communities do you serve?

Based in the Chicagoland area, we provide in-center and home hemodialysis to patients in Illinois. Our footprint spans from Rockford to the south suburbs of Chicago.

What populations do you serve?

Dialysis Care Center serves patients in underserved areas throughout Illinois.

Why did you decide to join the Illinois Kidney Care Alliance?

We partnered with the Illinois Kidney Care Alliance at the height of the pandemic to ensure our patients’ needs remained at the forefront. This included prioritizing this vulnerable population with vaccinations.

What do you hope the alliance accomplishes?

Our organization is hopeful that with our partnership, we will be part of a larger movement to ensure dialysis patients’ needs are heard and attended to.

What policy changes do those living with kidney disease need now?

Dialysis Care Center is consistently monitoring the needs and concerns of those with kidney disease to advocate for policies and legislation that benefits patients and their families.

What can lawmakers do to help those with kidney disease?

Lawmakers can help those suffering from kidney disease by supporting  employee protection laws that would assist patients in retaining employment.

What is something most people don’t know about dialysis/kidney disease?

Kidney disease impacts a broad spectrum of our society. There are many treatment options available for patients dialyzing at home. Those options should be explored in greater detail by patients.

If you can share one story about the work you and your organization do, what would it be?

For many years providers shied away from placing clinics in the small community of McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania. Dialysis Care Center opened an in-center in 2019, which prevented 20 patients from driving through a region that is mountainous and can be dangerous due to weather conditions, especially in the winter. In doing so, we increased access to care in the community.