DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 27, 2012-- DaVita, a division of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc.(NYSE: DVA) and a leading provider of kidney care services, today celebrated its partnerships with the communities it served in 2012.

“At DaVita, we take our responsibilities – to our patients, to each other and to our communities – very seriously,” said Kent Thiry, DaVita HealthCare Partners® chairman and CEO. “This has been an incredible year for us clinically, as a business, and just as importantly, as a community partner working to make the world a little bit better.”

With a commitment to being the “Provider, Partner and Employer of Choice,” DaVita® received a number of awards in 2012, including recognition as one of the world’s most democratic companies by WorldBlu®. DaVita was the only health care company and the only FORTUNE 500® company on the 2012 list. DaVita was also recognized in 2012 as one of the nation’s top five most “likeable businesses” and was included in FORTUNE® magazine’s most admired companies list for 2012.

“Community First, Company Second”

One of DaVita’s most cherished principles is that DaVita is “a community first, and a company second.” Employees are known as teammates or citizens, and the company itself is internally referred to as “The Village,” operating with seven core values – service excellence, integrity, team, continuous improvement, accountability, fulfillment and fun. DaVita encourages its teammates to support each other and their communities, sending “ripples of citizen leadership” out into the world through every act of service.

• DaVita Village Network – The DaVita Village Network is a DaVita community fund supported by both teammate and corporate contributions that provides financial assistance to teammates (or their immediate dependents) for out-of-pocket expenses during times of crisis such as a natural disaster, life-threatening emergency, unexpected medical or funeral expenses, or financial hardships as a result of military deployment. Since its inception, the DaVita Village Network has provided more than $2.1 million to teammates in times of need.
• Denver Public Schools Outreach – DaVita University, a continuing education and leadership program, offers a variety of classes related to team building, management and leadership. In 2012, DaVita University partnered with Denver Public Schools (DPS) to offer 21 leadership development and team-building programs for 1,793 leaders, principals, teachers and staff within Denver schools. Contributing a total of 3,951 hours, DaVita teammates also provided support as DPS developed shared core values.

Chronic Kidney Disease Awareness

More than 20 million people over the age of 20 in the U.S. have kidney disease, most of whom are unaware they are affected by the disease. High-risk groups include African-Americans, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans and seniors (those 60 and over). One of DaVita’s goals is to bring awareness to this life-threatening disease through unique community events.

• DaVita Kidney Rock WalkTM – More than 1,200 people participated in the DaVita Kidney Rock™ event in August, helping to raise an estimated $500,000 for Bridge of Life – Medical Missions™, which brings life-saving dialysis treatments to developing countries by supporting the creation of self-sustaining clinics. Hundreds of attendees also received kidney disease screenings from The Kidney TRUST.
• Tour DaVita ® - DaVita’s annual charity bike ride, Tour DaVita, raised $900,000 to support Bridge of Life in 2012. The proceeds from Tour DaVita will help fund nine medical missions taking place in 2013 where Bridge of Life volunteers will be able to install or repair 112 dialysis machines. Through these missions, Bridge of Life will bring dialysis treatment to more than 600 people in communities that otherwise would not have access to this life-sustaining care.

Charitable Giving

DaVita is committed to innovative engagement as citizens of local communities, empowering nonprofit organizations to become leaders in health, education, business and community transformation. DaVita supports local organizations that are making a significant impact in people’s lives.

• DaVita Way of Giving – For the second year, DaVita supported “DaVita Way of Giving” (DWOG) – a million-dollar giveaway to charities across the U.S., in which recipients are selected by clinic teammates. More than 1,900 DaVita clinics had the opportunity to come together and donate their time and money to local charities of their choice. These sponsorships stem from years of continued service by teammates and often include community-service projects known as “Village Service Days.”
• Corporate Charitable Giving – DaVita also continued its traditional support of local charities across the nation by giving away more than $2.8 million. DaVita supports a comprehensive approach to giving involving monetary donations, board leadership and community service. For example, DaVita’s headquarters supported Project Angel Heart (PAH) by serving as their $25,000 title sponsor for “Taste for Life,” an annual event that raises money for PAH’s mission of delivering nutritious meals to improve quality of life – at no cost – for those coping with life-threatening illness. Teammates also volunteered more than 500 hours in the kitchen, personally delivered meals and decorated 1,000 food-delivery bags.

Community Service

This year was DaVita’s best year ever for teammate volunteerism through “Village Service Days.” Village Service Days include any community service performed by three or more teammates at or on behalf of DaVita. Over the past several years, teammates and their friends around the country have launched a variety of local community-service projects. Between January 1 and December 15, 2012, DaVita teammates participated in more than 200 Village Service Days, involving more than 7,000 teammates and more than 11,000 hours of service.

• Shoes That Fit – Working with charity partner Shoes That Fit, DaVita citizens at the company’s business office in Irvine, Calif., along with field teammates across Southern California, donated 1,030 pairs of shoes to elementary school children. Every child at Lincoln Elementary School in Santa Ana – where 92 percent of the students are on free or reduced lunch and about 100 are homeless – received a new pair of athletic shoes. DaVita citizens collected these shoes (and 1,030 pairs of socks) in just two weeks so that the children would have new shoes for Spring Break.
• Sun Valley Youth Center – As part of an annual leadership retreat, DaVita’s most senior operational leaders spent a day helping to rehabilitate Sun Valley Youth Center in Denver by cleaning and entirely re-landscaping the center’s grounds. Sun Valley Youth Center provides day care, after-school care, youth development, mentoring and life essentials programs to youth in one of Denver’s lowest-income neighborhoods. DaVita senior leaders have planned a multi-year volunteer project with Sun Valley to support the center’s work.

Sustainability

• DaVita HQ Expected to Receive LEED® Gold Rating – DaVita expects to receive LEED® Gold certification of its world headquarters building, designed with environmentally responsible materials and energy efficient systems, from the use of 2,850 linear feet of beetle kill wood to water efficiency that saves more than 1 million gallons of water each year. Flooring throughout the building is comprised of pre- and post-consumer recycled materials; more than 90 percent of teammates have direct views to the outdoors; and 100 percent of permanent teammates receive complimentary RTD EcoPasses. DaVita also diverts more than 85 percent of materials from landfills through internal composting and recycling efforts. In addition, DaVita was recognized as an “EPA Green Power Partner” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
• Corporate Environmental Goals – DaVita’s Village Green department is committed to reducing the Village’s environmental footprint while striving to achieve five environmental goals by 2015:
  • Reduce energy consumption by 15 percent
  • Reduce office paper consumption by 20 percent and operate paperless clinics
  • Reduce water consumption by 10 percent
  • Increase environmentally preferable procurement by 15 percent
  • Increase teammate awareness/education by implementing one new program each year

• DaVita Jumps in Newsweek’s U.S. Green Ranking List – Newsweek’s 2012 U.S. Green Ranking List placed DaVita at number 209, up 33 spots from 2011. Newsweek U.S. Green Rankings highlight the top 500 companies in America for leadership in environmental performance. This is the fourth year Newsweek has compiled its green rankings; DaVita has been ranked each year so far.

For more information about DaVita’s social responsibility practices, please visitDaVita.com/CommunityCare.

DaVita, DaVita Kidney Rock, Tour DaVita and DaVita HealthCare Partners are trademarks or registered trademarks of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About DaVita

DaVita is the dialysis division of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc., a Fortune 500® company that, through its operating divisions, provides a variety of health care services to patient populations throughout the United States and abroad. A leading provider of kidney care in the United States, DaVita delivers dialysis services to patients with chronic kidney failure and end stage renal disease. DaVita strives to improve patients’ quality of life by innovating clinical care, and by offering integrated treatment plans, personalized care teams and convenient health-management services. As ofSeptember 30, 2012, DaVita operated or provided administrative services at 1,912 outpatient dialysis centers located in the United States serving approximately 150,000 patients. The company also operated 24 outpatient dialysis centers located in five countries outside the United States. DaVita supports numerous programs dedicated to creating positive, sustainable change in communities around the world. The company’s leadership development initiatives and social responsibility efforts have been recognized by Fortune, Modern Healthcare, Newsweek and WorldBlu. For more information, please visit DaVita.com.

Source: DaVita

DaVita
Media:
Lauren Moughon
Mobile: 206.724.3826
Lauren.Moughon@DaVita.com