Sacramento, Calif.-based UC Davis Health is expanding access to specialty kidney care for patients in rural Mendocino County through a telenephrology partnership with Adventist Health Ukiah Valley, helping bring nephrologists to a region that previously lacked local specialty care.
The program connects UC Davis nephrologists in Sacramento with patients and clinicians at the 50-bed Adventist Health Ukiah Valley in Ukiah, Calif., through real-time video consultations, according to an Aug. 3 news release. Specialists also provide remote dialysis oversight, medication management support and continuity of care for complex kidney disease cases.
Since launching in 2021, the partnership has supported more than 1,000 dialysis treatments at Adventist Health Ukiah Valley, allowing patients to receive inpatient dialysis closer to home rather than being transferred to hospitals in Santa Rosa, St. Helena, San Francisco or Sacramento. The program also provides on-demand nephrology support for local physicians and nurses.
UC Davis Health said the initiative is part of its broader telehealth network, which connects more than 200 clinics and hospitals across a 33-county region. Health system leaders said the model helps address shortages of nephrologists in rural communities while allowing patients to receive specialty care closer to home.
