WELLSBORO, PA (WENY) -- At the beginning of 2024, dialysis patients at U.S. Renal Care Center in Wellsboro learned that the place they went to for treatment was unexpectedly closing, leaving them to travel far for treatment. Now, the dialysis center is open under a new company.

"Our first day of treating patients was on Friday the 20th [of December]. On the 20th, we were told by Novitas that we weren't approved yet, but that there weren't going to be any anticipated hiccups with our application. So, we kind of rolled the dice, [and] I made the executive call to treat our first patient... It paid off because on the 24th, right before Christmas, we got notified by Novitas that our paperwork was stamped, approved and sent on to the Department of Health of Pennsylvania, and they confirmed they received that paperwork," said one of the owners of Independent Dialysis Group (IDG), Adrian Amedia.

It had been about 10 months since a dialysis center was open in Wellsboro and patients had to drive at least 45-60+ minutes to receive treatment. The original center, previously owned by U.S. Renal Care Center closed in late February saying;

'U.S. Renal Care had to make the very difficult decision to close our Wellsboro center. Providing care in communities like Wellsboro is a challenge many healthcare providers face as Medicare reimbursement has not kept up with the rising costs of operating a dialysis center. As a result, Wellsboro, like other centers across the country, have struggled to cover costs and unfortunately, this sometimes results in a center closing. U.S. Renal Care is taking every measure to ensure our patients have access to the lifesaving care they need. We are working closely with each of our patients and their physicians to help them identify another dialysis center without experiencing any interruptions to their treatment schedule.'

As of December 30th, IDG is treating about a dozen patients at the Wellsboro location. Amedia said they plan to expand that number in January.

"There's about 12 or 13 more patients out there [who] were being cared for in Wellsboro before they closed down there. They're in four different facilities across Pennsylvania and New York, and we're working with the social workers in those locations to bring them on board after the 1st," said Amedia.

Sometime in January, Amedia said there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony for IDG's grand opening in Wellsboro. He also wants to thank everyone who helped make opening the center possible.

If anyone has questions about receiving care at the Wellsboro location, please call (570)-832-1471.