DaVita Helps Protect Patients, Physicians and Care Teams with Heightened Mask Protocol

DENVER, April 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DaVita Kidney Care protects patients, physicians and teammates amid the COVID-19 pandemic by requiring them to wear masks in its U.S. dialysis centers.

"The world is learning together how to fight against COVID-19, and as this change happens, we're in lockstep with the CDC's guidance," said Dr. Jeff Giullian, chief medical officer for DaVita Kidney Care. "Skipping treatment isn't an option for our patients, so we are working to help keep our patients, and each other, healthy."

DaVita's 55,000 frontline teammates across the country are working hard to maintain a safe environment for dialysis patients to continue receiving life-sustaining care. Dialysis patients are one of the most at-risk patient populations in health care. To help protect patients, DaVita centers are:

• Restricting visitors who are not necessary for patient care
• Screening everyone as they enter the center
• Requiring everyone inside the center to wear a surgical mask

DaVita teammates use masks, gowns, gloves and careful hand hygiene, each blocking steps along the path to transmission of this virus. When used together, these precautions help give care teams and patients multiple layers of protections against infection.

DaVita asks patients to wear surgical masks from the time they enter the center until they leave. While this precautionary protocol change goes beyond the baseline of CDC guidelines, DaVita believes it helps maintain a low-risk environment for transmission of the virus.

"Our care teams are equipped with masks, which are effective at reducing viral infections like this," continued Dr. Giullian. "We've worked with national infection control experts and partners across the kidney care community who support and believe in the science behind this."

At this time, DaVita is asking patients, physicians and teammates not to bring their own masks—whether homemade, donated or purchased elsewhere—into its dialysis centers. Wearing masks provided by DaVita means that the company can be confident in the level of protection everyone has inside its centers.

Like all health care providers, DaVita is aware of challenges presented by a global shortage of medical-grade personal protective equipment. The company will continue working daily with vendors to help maintain its supply chain.

For more information on DaVita's response to the pandemic, visit www.DaVita.com/COVID-19-Information.

About DaVita Inc. 
DaVita (NYSE: DVA) is a health care provider focused on transforming care delivery to improve quality of life for patients globally. The company is one of the largest providers of kidney care services in the U.S. and has been a leader in clinical quality and innovation for more than 20 years. Through DaVita Kidney Care, the company treats patients with chronic kidney failure and end stage kidney disease. DaVita is committed to bold, patient-centric care models, implementing the latest technologies and moving toward integrated care offerings for all. Through these efforts, DaVita has also become the largest provider of home dialysis in the country. As of December 31, 2019, DaVita served 206,900 patients at 2,753 outpatient dialysis centers in the United States. The company also operated 259 outpatient dialysis centers in ten countries worldwide. DaVita has reduced hospitalizations, improved mortality, and worked collaboratively to propel the kidney care industry to adopt an equitable and high-quality standard of care for all patients, everywhere. To learn more, visit DaVita.com/About.

Contact:
Courtney Culpepper
(303) 876-6600
[email protected]

SOURCE DaVita Kidney Care

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