DaVita Inc. announced today that Nancy-Ann DeParle and William L. Roper have joined its Board of Directors. As expected, Thomas A. Scully has resigned his position on the DaVita Board of Directors concurrent with his confirmation as Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Mr. Scully stated, "As excited as I am to go to HCFA, I am sad to leave the DaVita Board. I have been impressed with the DaVita team and their dedication to excellent patient care and regulatory compliance. I am very pleased that Nancy-Ann and Bill are joining the Board, as they are both very experienced and equally dedicated to making the American health care system the best it can be."

Ms. DeParle (44) served as the Administrator of HCFA from November 1997 until October 2000. From 1993 until joining HCFA, Ms. DeParle was Associate Director for Health and Personnel at the White House Office of Management and Budget. She is currently a health care consultant and senior advisor for JP Morgan Partners, LLC, a private equity firm. Ms. DeParle received her law degree from Harvard Law School and was also a Rhodes Scholar. Ms. DeParle also serves on the Boards of Guidant Corporation, Cerner Corporation and Specialty Laboratories, Inc.

"I am excited to join the DaVita team and look forward to working with the Company to continue delivering high quality services to its patients," commented Ms. DeParle.

Dr. Roper (52) was also a former Administrator of HCFA, from 1986 to 1989. He is currently dean of the School of Public Health at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). He is also a professor of health policy and administration in the School of Public Health and a professor of pediatrics in the School of Medicine at UNC. Before joining UNC in 1997, Dr. Roper served as senior vice president of Prudential HealthCare. He also served as Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1990 to 1993 and on the senior White House staff in 1989 and 1990. Dr. Roper also serves on the Board of Luminex Corporation.

"I am pleased to be joining the DaVita team. My interests and work in health care quality and health outcomes link naturally to the important work DaVita does with its patients," Dr. Roper stated.

Kent Thiry, Chairman and CEO, commented, "Nancy-Ann and Bill can help us as Tom already has, to work towards achieving our objective of a more constructive partnership with the federal government. This partnership will help create a dialysis industry that is a role model for American health care, a role model which continuously and demonstrably improves patient care while efficiently spending taxpayer dollars."

DaVita also recognized Maris Andersons and Shaul Massry for their years of dedicated service to the Company. Mr. Andersons and Dr. Massry are leaving the Board upon the expiration of their current terms as directors in June 2001.

DaVita is a leading provider of dialysis services for patients suffering from chronic kidney failure. The Company owns and operates kidney dialysis centers and home peritoneal dialysis programs domestically in 32 states, as well as Washington, D.C. It also provides acute hemodialysis services to inpatients at approximately 280 hospitals. As of March 31, 2001 we operated 486 outpatient dialysis facilities serving over 41,000 patients, including 3,400 patients in 34 centers under management.

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SOURCE: DaVita Inc.