Until November 2002, Ardella Blythe used to transport her husband, James, from Oak Harbor to Clinton where he could receive dialysis treatments at Puget Sound Kidney Center’s Whidbey satellite.

That’s not a short drive, but when the Whidbey center closed late last year, the Blythes were left with a far longer drive to Mountlake Terrace three days a week. Only recently did their trip shorten a bit when James was transferred to the center’s Everett facility, but it doesn’t help much.

“It’s still means an hour-and-a-half drive each way,” Ardella said. James suffers from kidney failure as a result of diabetes and is also not able to drive himself. He was in the hospital this week recovering from a minor stroke and wasn’t available for comment.

Because the dialysis treatment lasts for about six hours, the Blythes can spend up to nine hours a day traveling to and from an appointment.

The Kidney Center was located in Whidbey General Hospital’s Community Health Building in Clinton. The hospital closed the facility because of septic concerns.

“We were having significant issues with the drainfield,” said Scott Rhine, CEO of Whidbey General Hospital. “We’ve been working on the issues for several years.”

The Community Health Building’s drainfield failed about two years ago and the hospital built an alternate field but didn’t want to risk losing that field as well.

Rhine said it cost the hospital around $30,000 to build the new field.

Puget Sound Kidney Center was the only place on the island where patients could go for dialysis treatments. Patients needing treatment now have to go to centers located in Everett, Mountlake Terrace or Mount Vernon.

Puget Sound Kidney Centers sees seven patients from Whidbey Island at their Everett and Mountlake Terrace facilities.

At the Clinton location, seven patients were using the facility for three-times-a-week treatments.

Although the hospital recently finished a $5.3 million renovation, at the time the project was being designed in the late 1990s, Puget Sound Kidney Center was in Clinton and had no intention of moving, Rhine said.

After the Clinton facility closed, hospital officials recommended that the Kidney Center look for an alternate location in an area with a sewer system.

Harold Kelly, president and CEO of Puget Sound Kidney Center, said he is trying to find an alternate location in Coupeville.

“We’re looking, looking and looking,” Kelly said.

A site on Fourth Street in Coupeville was found a couple of months ago but that deal fell through because of the $60,000 the center needed to pay for water and sewer hookups.

Larry Cort, Coupeville town planner, said the site was in a commercially-zoned area; however there is one issue the Kidney Center couldn’t overcome.

“The Kidney Center is quite a heavy user of water,” Cort said, estimating the center would use approximately 3,000 gallons of water per day.

The town bases its water hookup rights on the equivalent single family usage of 474 gallons per day and the town charges $4,500 for each right.

Coupeville Public Works Director Malcolm Bishop said that if the center disposed of a similar amount of water, than they would have to pay $5,500 for each sewer hookup. He added that negotiations with Puget Sound Kidney Centers didn’t get to the sewer hookup stage.

The Kidney Center’s Kelly added that the centers is looking at two other sites in Coupeville but wouldn’t give any information about their location. He did say the treatment center wants to own its next location on the island.

While the Kidney Center tries to find a new location, Blythe, spent the week traveling to Everett to take care of her husband at Providence General Medical Center where he continues to recover.

You can reach News-Times reporter Nathan Whalen at nwhalen@whidbeynews

times.com or 675-6611.