HONOLULU (AP) — A surge in patients and a shortage of dialysis clinics has Hawaii’s two dialysis operators planning to open as many as six new clinics annually throughout the next five years.

The new clinics would help handle the 700 new dialysis patients a year in the state — but not until the facilities are certified by the state Department of Health and federal authorities, a process that can take up to three years.

Without certification, the clinics could not get reimbursed for treating Medicare and Medicaid patients, which comprise as much as 85 percent of the dialysis population.

The state has more than 30 dialysis clinics, four of which are still awaiting certification.

The number of Hawaiians who need dialysis has grown to nearly 4,000 from roughly 3,300 in 2014, according to the Western Pacific Renal Network.

Delays are causing patients covered by Medicare to instead get treatments at emergency rooms, which cost three to four times more than a dialysis clinic, said Rep. John Mizuno, an Oahu Democrat and chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee.

The DOH blames certification delays on a lack of resources.

HONOLULU (AP) — A surge in patients and a shortage of dialysis clinics has Hawaii’s two dialysis operators planning to open as many as six new clinics annually throughout the next five years.

The new clinics would help handle the 700 new dialysis patients a year in the state — but not until the facilities are certified by the state Department of Health and federal authorities, a process that can take up to three years.

Without certification, the clinics could not get reimbursed for treating Medicare and Medicaid patients, which comprise as much as 85 percent of the dialysis population.

The state has more than 30 dialysis clinics, four of which are still awaiting certification.

The number of Hawaiians who need dialysis has grown to nearly 4,000 from roughly 3,300 in 2014, according to the Western Pacific Renal Network.

Delays are causing patients covered by Medicare to instead get treatments at emergency rooms, which cost three to four times more than a dialysis clinic, said Rep. John Mizuno, an Oahu Democrat and chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee.

The DOH blames certification delays on a lack of resources.