On Tuesday, March 22, a Ukrainian hospital with one of the largest dialysis centers in the country received an order of dialysis consumables purchased by DaVita Poland.

On March 3, DaVita Biomed Oleksandr Khrestiianovych in Parkland, WA, learned a hospital in Ukraine had only enough supplies for two days of dialysis treatments. Recognizing the significant health risk this posed to patients, the teammate reached out to Bridge of Life (BOL)[1] to see if and how the organization could help.

BOL contacted DaVita Poland, which has been actively supporting Ukrainian hospitals as well as refugee dialysis patients fleeing the conflict. Together, they sought a solution.

Within 24 hours, DaVita Poland connected with the hospital the biomed teammate identified to determine what supplies were needed. DaVita Poland then sourced and purchased the needed supplies for 1,000 dialysis treatments at the Ukrainian hospital.

“I’m so grateful to Oleksandr for reaching out to Bridge of Life and for the very quick and generous response from DaVita Poland, which continues to do an amazing job assisting Ukrainian dialysis patients and hospitals” Lori Vaclavik, executive director for BOL, says. “This story really shows the power of the DaVita Village to care for our world during even the most challenging of times.”

DaVita Poland has purchased and delivered similar shipments of supplies to other Ukrainian locations to assist with local dialysis treatments, including one shipment to Lviv and another soon to be delivered to Równe. These two shipments alone will enable 5,000 treatments for more than 1,000 patients in the Ukraine.

As of March 23, DaVita Poland has also admitted 45 people to its dialysis clinics nearest to the Ukraine border, to provide fleeing Ukrainians dialysis treatment.

Dialysis is a life-sustaining medical therapy, and patients are often prescribed three to four treatments per week. Missing treatments can have serious health repercussions, including hospitalization or even mortality. DaVita’s international network of dialysis care, which is available in Germany, Portugal, Great Britain and Saudi Arabia, is uniquely placed to assist end stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients affected by the war in Ukraine.

“Our clinics in Poland and Germany are ready to receive dialysis patients who are fleeing Ukraine, and we look forward to helping as many as possible—particularly those who must receive dialysis to stay alive,” Doug MacDougall, head of corporate affairs for DaVita International, said.