DENVER, May 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- DaVita HealthCare
Partners Inc. (NYSE: DVA), a leading provider of kidney care and
health care services, today announced that Bridge of Life (BOL),
the primary program of DaVita Village Trust, completed three new
missions to Belize, Haiti and Vietnam to treat patients and assess
conditions for future missions.
"Providing telehealth, hand hygiene and primary care services to
underserved communities allows us to expand our reach
internationally and to deepen our impact," said Lori Vaclavik, executive director of DaVita
Village Trust. "We are committed to sustainability by understanding
the unique needs of each community and fostering on-going
relationships with our in-country partners."
Belize
BOL launched
its first telehealth program with the renal units at La Loma
Adventist Hospital and Karl Heusner
Memorial Hospital (KHMH) in Belize. Belize does not currently have any
nephrologists practicing within the country. Dr. Ronald Hyde, a nephrologist at the Southwest
Kidney Institute in Phoenix who
has been treating patients in Belize, will now be able to remotely treat 28
patients weekly from Arizona. He
was previously able to treat these patients only four times a
year.
KHMH currently has five dialysis machines and 16 patients at its
dialysis unit. La Loma has 14 patients who dialyze three times per
week. BOL plans to launch the telehealth program in other
developing countries in need of nephrologists as well as seek out
new partnerships to help develop the program.
Haiti
BOL launched
its first hand hygiene product protocol with the help of 62
clinicians and donations made by GOJO Purell. More than 7,750
people were educated at two hospitals and one clinic – Hôpital de
la Paix in Port au Prince, Hôpital St. Marc in the Artibonite
Department of St. Marc and GHESKIO in Port-Au-Prince.
"Many lives will be impacted by the use of hand sanitizers and
washing dispensers in our health wards," said Claudia Thomas Riché
with GHESKIO. "It is critical to make practice of hand hygiene in
order to reduce germ transmission between patients and health care
providers. Lives can be saved by basic hygiene that most of us take
for granted."
Vietnam
For the first
time, BOL partnered with Project Vietnam Foundation to provide
surgical and primary care in two Vietnam hospitals. 17 volunteers, including
HealthCare Partners teammates, treated patients at Hospital 175 in
Saigon and Hospital Benh Vien Da
Khoa in Can Tho.
During the two-week mission,
- 70 young children with cleft lip/palate received corrective
operations;
- 2,503 patients received comprehensive care, including vision
care and screenings for diabetes and anemia;
- 814 children received dental care which included oral hygiene
education;
- 264 patients were provided with audiological evaluations;
and
- 29 hearing aids were dispensed.
For more information about Bridge of Life, please visit
DaVitaVillageTrust.org.
About Bridge of Life
DaVita Village Trust (DVT) is an
independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by DaVita
HealthCare Partners. Bridge of Life (BOL), the primary program of
DVT, improves access to primary care and dialysis treatment in
underserved communities around the world while also focusing on
prevention of kidney disease through early-detection testing and
education. BOL serves thousands of men, women and children through
four impact areas: kidney care, primary care, education and
prevention and medically supported camps for kids. In 2015, BOL
will complete 47 medical missions, 32 chronic kidney disease (CKD)
screening events, 15 medical camps for kids and impact over 9,000
lives in the United States and abroad. For more information, please
visit DaVitaVillageTrust.org.
About DaVita HealthCare Partners
DaVita HealthCare
Partners Inc., a Fortune 500® company, is the parent company of
DaVita Kidney Care and HealthCare
Partners. DaVita Kidney Care is a
leading provider of kidney care in the
United States, delivering dialysis services to patients with
chronic kidney failure and end stage renal disease. As of
March 31, 2015, DaVita Kidney Care operated or provided
administrative services at 2,197 outpatient dialysis centers
located in the United States
serving approximately 174,000 patients. The company also operated
93 outpatient dialysis centers located in 10 countries outside
the United States. HealthCare
Partners manages and operates medical groups and affiliated
physician networks in Arizona,
California, Nevada, New
Mexico, Florida and
Colorado in its pursuit to deliver
excellent-quality health care in a dignified and compassionate
manner. As of March 31, 2015
HealthCare Partners provided integrated care management for
approximately 830,000 patients. For more information, please visit
DaVitaHealthCarePartners.com.
Contact Information
Media:
David Gilles
(303) 876-7497
david.gilles@davita.com
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SOURCE DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc.