In the wake of hurricane Milton in late 2024, DaVita teammates dedicated their time and support to patients in the Tampa, Florida, area who needed life-sustaining treatment to survive. “The most...

For more than a decade, Rick Mendoza had been fully enjoying his kidney transplant. From hikes to mowing the lawn to attending his daughter's school and sporting events, his transplant let him...

Learning that you need dialysis can be emotional, stressful — and prompt many questions about your health. Imagine navigating that when you’re not able to express your feelings and needs. This...

In the bustling corridors of health care, May heralds more than just blooming flowers and warmer weather: May also marks a poignant celebration of nurses and the role they play in caring for...

Throughout the year, DaVita teammates provide life-giving care for patients. Explore these top 2023 stories to discover the impact DaVita’s commitment to delivering high-quality care and...

Knowledge is power: This is the concept behind Kidney Smart®. The award-winning program seeks to do just that: provide robust education so that people living with kidney disease can better manage...

The 2023 DaVita Health Tour just hit six weeks on the road, reaching thousands of community members with free health screenings and education focused on kidney health. Find out where the DaVita...

Kimberly Keaveny has held many roles in her 12 years as a DaVita teammate (employee). When she was still a licensed practical nurse (LPN) early in her career, she had the chance to shadow nurses...

When Travis experienced COVID-19 in 2021, he was admitted to hospital. While there, he learned that his kidneys were failing and he needed to start dialysis quickly. Travis is passionate about the...

After a year and a half of managing her kidney health with peritoneal dialysis, 24-year-old Taiylor Kriss is entering the next stage of her kidney journey: living with a transplanted kidney. She...

Access to healthy, nutritional food is a key factor in maintaining overall health. It’s so vital that food insecurity—not having access to sufficient food of adequate quality—is a key social...

From the moment he received a kidney transplant, Marcus Simon felt called to work in kidney care. Now, five years post-transplantation, he’s confident DaVita is where he was meant to be. “The...

At this year’s Villagwide event, DaVita recognized several teammates who model its Core Values and caring behaviors. While the Core Values provide a roadmap for which DaVita teammates interact...

DaVita Hospital Services has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Ambulatory Care Accreditation by demonstrating continuous compliance with its performance standards. The...

In March, National Kidney Month (NKM) serves as an opportunity to take stock of the progress the health care community has made through joint efforts to reduce the number of lives impacted by...

Every day, Terry Weaver brings to life DaVita’s focus on high-quality, empathetic and personalized care through how he supports and guides social workers. A divisional lead social worker at...

For years, DaVita has invested in and built technology that supports better care-delivery—such as OneView’s care documentation and access for nephrologists who round in DaVita® centers and...

For the first time in three years, thousands of DaVita teammates came together in person in January 2023 for DaVita Villagewide. This special event creates a moment to gather, empower and...

For 20 years, Sharron Rouse built her career in education—from classroom teaching, to counseling to becoming a Title I coordinator. Now, she leverages her years of navigating the education...

What are some of the barriers to increasing use of home dialysis modalities? According to many, it may come down to nephrologists’ prior experience with the treatment options. Peer-reviewed...

Imagine learning that a dear loved one is experiencing or is progressing into kidney failure. To live, they’ll need dialysis treatments multiple times a week or a kidney transplant. They may...

“When I first heard I would probably end up on dialysis, it was real crushing,” says DaVita patient Melissa. Melissa was living in Florida at the time, and she wanted answers. Her primary care...

“When I first heard I would probably end up on dialysis, it was real crushing,” says DaVita patient Melissa. Melissa was living in Florida at the time, and she wanted answers. Her primary care...

Bree Fausnaught was born to compete. Ever since she was old enough to walk in her first beauty pageant as a child, she’s been drawn to the stage — and to the goal of achieving the very best...

By Dr. Mihran Naljayan | Chief Medical Officer of Home Modalities Studies show nephrologists experience a meaningful lack of exposure to home modalities during nephrology fellowships[i], and that...

While DaVita continues to invest in patient education on home modalities, the kidney care company is also enhancing educational support for physicians. DaVita’s Physician Support Network (PSN)...

On Thursday, Nov. 10, Tina Livaudais, DaVita’s chief nursing officer, joined the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) chief medical officer, Dr. Robert Gabbay, for a conversation about the...

At 23 years old, Taiylor Kriss is dependent on dialysis treatment to stay alive. When she crashed into dialysis in November 2021, she had no idea what the future had in store. “I was always kind...

Clinical trials offer the opportunity to test new therapeutic treatments and advance care, but trials often hit logistical barriers. Because trials have typically occurred in a physical research...

More than 500,000 people in the United States currently live with kidney failure. The only treatment option that allows them to live without dialysis is to receive a transplant. However, nearly...

For DaVita National Director of Nursing Services, Kristi Ricord, the commitment to care extends beyond patients. Ever since she became immersed in the field decades ago, she’s felt a personal...

Registered Nurse Carlos Vedia loves his job, and he’s ready to shout about it. “I tell everyone I know they should work in kidney care!” laughs the nurse, who worked as a patient care...

Meet Kevin Crandle. When he was just three days old, his mother had to bring him to the hospital to find out that he had a heart condition. That hospital trip was just the beginning of a lifelong...

Kidney care is often complex: People new to kidney disease face finding information about how to adjust their day-to-day lifestyles, work with their nephrologists to choose the right treatment for...

BY TINA LIVAUDAIS | CHIEF NURSING OFFICER FOR DAVITA When I started at DaVita as a patient care technician (PCT), I was in nursing school and wasn’t quite sure where my career would take me. I...

When DaVita Nursing Director Lisa Hornborg talks about the DAISY Awards, her whole face lights up. “It’s truly one of the highlights of my year,” she explains, describing the delight, hugs...

Since 2007, Patient Pathways, a subsidiary of DaVita,[1] has supplemented its partner hospitals’ staff with kidney patient education and provider-neutral discharge planning services. “Learning...

More than half of the people who receive dialysis start their treatment in an emergent, unplanned way often called “crashing.” The sudden discovery that a regular, life-sustaining treatment...

Nearly 100,000 people in the U.S. need a kidney transplant,[1] but limited availability of organs for people on the wait list can result in long wait times. For some transplant candidates, living...

DaVita’s internal conference, Villagewide, returned March 29–30, 2022. This event highlights and celebrates teammates (employees) and provides updates and accomplishments around the...

Of the 37 million Americans who have kidney disease, an estimated 90% don’t know they have it. Often, it can go undetected because patients can present few or no symptoms until they approach or...

While clinical studies have helped demonstrate the effectiveness and immunogenicity of the COVID-19 vaccines approved or authorized in the U.S. (Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson), these...

Approximately one in two adults in the U.S. has hypertension (high blood pressure)—but only an estimated one in four have it under control. “High blood pressure is a symptomless ‘silent...

When Sarah and Cliff Jones first met, they were both working in dialysis care—but they didn’t know how their professional experience in kidney care would play a significant role in their own...

New technologies are helping to expand access and increase patient confidence to choose home dialysis more than ever before.

Lindsay O’Donnell is not alone in her journey with kidney disease. Thirty-seven million people in the U.S. share the same diagnosis. Many are fearful of what’s to come.

In late March, COVID vaccines were allocated directly to dialysis providers to give to patients living with kidney failure, including ours. A campaign like this couldn’t have come fast enough for these 554,000 Americans.

Her grandmother cared for patients during the polio epidemic. Today, Guess continues to serve on the front lines of COVID-19 and supports hospital patients who need dialysis treatment in Central Virginia.

Each recipient answered a unique call to be a nephrology nurse – a vocation that requires specialized training to provide life-sustaining care to people managing kidney health across the country

DaVita is working hard to ensure dialysis patients and front-line health care workers are protected against COVID-19.

For the last decade, DaVita has been reimagining how the health care industry builds dialysis centers.

Southern California’s kidney care community is working together to vaccinate dialysis workers, including physicians, nurses, patient care technicians and hospital medical assistants.

In April 2019, DaVita committed to a goal of being 100% powered by renewable energy by 2022.

DaVita IKC’s patient-centered approach helps the organization achieve the Triple Aim—to improve the patient experience of care, improve the health of populations, and to reduce the per capita cost of health care. This has led DaVita IKC to this top performer recognition as an NCQA-accredited provider.

DaVita IKC works with health insurers, providers and health systems to give comprehensive care to people in various stages of kidney disease.

Home dialysis isn’t new, but recent policy shifts, investments and technological advancements have accelerated patient adoption rates to record levels.

Nephrology Nurses: A Lifeline for Patients & the Kidney Care Sector

A common myth among end stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients is that they cannot exercise due to their dialysis treatment. The reality is that most dialysis patients can enjoy some level of exercise with guidance from their physician. Emerging research has shown that regular exercise among ESKD patients promotes a healthier lifestyle and can improve quality of life.

From stay at home order to temporary business closures, COVID-19 forced separation among communities all over the country, and yet people sought out unique ways to come together and honor life’s important milestones. Whether it was a socially distanced birthday parade or a virtual graduation, family and friends found ways to support one another when it counted. That was the case for Lloyd and Florence Smee on their 53rd wedding anniversary.

Artificial intelligence and predictive analytics are being scaled to segment patients into several different areas, including risk for CKD progression and eventual need for dialysis. These models are used to develop effective and efficient integrated care delivery systems. Incorporating this technology into care delivery will be essential to helping reduce CKD rates and slow disease progression.

For those diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD), moving to a plant-based, kidney-friendly diet may be beneficial. When you eat plant-based, you don’t have to cut out all animal products.

Time wasn’t necessarily on Melissa Flores’ side in August of 2019. At that time, Flores was on the waiting list for a second kidney transplant.

Sally Hernandez recommends people speak to their care team and nephrologist about kidney transplant as a treatment option for kidney failure.

The world is facing an unprecedented time. As COVID-19 evolves, it may seem like how we are supposed to respond to the virus changes by the hour. Health care providers are picking up on stress and fear from patients.

After 49 years in nursing, Christine Banda finally retired at the end of January and settled into a new home in Arizona. Two months later, she received an email from her former employer, DaVita.

In late March, Mayes left his husband and children behind to care for patients in the U.S. epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis.

Connecting with a kidney doctor, also known as a nephrologist, can help people with kidney disease better understand kidney health and find the right treatment.

Retired Air Force veteran, Carl Stewart, discovered his passion for traveling the world while serving his country. But a diagnosis of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) in 2012 nearly stopped in him in his tracks.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it new precautions for almost everything we do. When it comes to eating out, many restaurants are continuing to offer takeout options as social distancing practices remain in place.

For many of the more than 100,000 Americans currently waiting for a kidney transplant, having a strong support system to help encourage them throughout their transplant journey can be critical.

There is a shift to move all sectors of health care away from traditional fee-for-service models that pay clinicians based on the number of patients seen or procedures performed to value-based care.

According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, the kidney is the most commonly transplanted organ from a living donor. In 2019, more than 6,000 people became living kidney donors.

Each year, approximately 100,000 patients transition from chronic kidney disease (CKD) to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD).