Agency Details:

Kidney Health Alliance Of Kentucky

The mission of the Kidney Health Alliance of Kentucky (KHAKY) is to serve kidney disease patients and their families, increase awareness and early detection of Chronic Kidney Disease(CKD) and promote organ donor awareness.

Description:
Our agency provides services to dialysis and transplant patients in more than 70 counties of Kentucky. We work with over 40 dialysis clinics in that region. Social workers and registered dietitians who work at these clinics identify patients who need our services and refer them to us. We provide several patient services including a nutritional supplement program and emergency financial assistance for rent, utilities, and transportation.

To meet our objective of increased awareness and early detection of CKD we also offer "Sidney the Kidney" educational presentations for classrooms, civic groups and community events and free kidney disease screenings. The O'Meara Kidney Health Screening program is an on-site screening for employees at company health fairs or as a stand alone event. A donation is requested from the employer to help offset the cost of the screening.

KHAKY participates as a member of the Donate Life Kentucky Coalition and partners with them in several events and programs including the "Life Is Cool" presentation for 4th and 5th grade students at elementary schools across the state.

History:
The Kidney Health Alliance of Kentucky was founded in 1971 by a small group of highly dedicated and concerned people. They sought to encourage and assist in basic research programs and to provide services to patients who were afflicted with kidney disease. Educational programs were also developed to create public and professional interest. As interest in the Foundation grew so did the scope of its services and activities. In 1972 the Foundation incorporated under the name of the Kidney Foundation of Central Kentucky, Inc.

The Kidney Foundation of Central Kentucky was formed as an affiliate of the National Kidney Foundation and was assigned the 60 counties of Central and Eastern Kentucky. We remained with the national organization until November 1, 1986 when we resigned and became a separate corporation. Our decision to withdraw was not an easy one--nor did it happen without lengthy discussion by our officers and directors among themselves and with National representatives. The principle benefit from this decision was our ability to provide more services to the renal patients in our area and no longer being required to send a large portion of our funds to the national organization. Additionally, the independence allowed the organization to further develop the programs and services it felt were most needed by those in the service area.

In January of 2007 the decision was made to change our name to the Kidney Health Alliance of Kentucky (KHAKY). This decision was necessary to better identify us and the area we serve as well as to distinguish us from the National Kidney Foundation. KHAKY remains in the forefront in providing the crucial and beneficial services to kidney patients and the general public. KHAKY is dependent upon the people of Kentucky for its' financial support. 100% of monies received remains in our service area.

Contact person: Pat Ham, Executive Director, (phone), (email)

Office fax number: (859) 277-2229

Address:

1517 Nicholasville Road, Suite 203 Lexington, KY 40503 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.khaky.org

Last updated on November 10, 2009