DaVita Inc. provides

kidney dialysis Kidney dialysis is the process of removing excess water, solutes, and toxins from the blood in people whose kidneys can no longer perform these functions naturally. Along with kidney transplantation, it is a type of renal replacement therapy. ...

services through a network of 2,675 outpatient centers in the United States, serving 200,800 patients, and 367 outpatient centers in 11 other countries serving 49,400 patients. The company primarily treats

end-stage renal disease Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a type of long-term kidney disease, defined by the sustained presence of abnormal kidney function and/or abnormal kidney structure. To meet criteria for CKD, the abnormalities must be present for at least three mo ...

(ESRD), which requires patients to undergo kidney dialysis 3 times per week for the rest of their lives unless they receive a

kidney transplant Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantat ...

via

organ donation Organ donation is the process when a person authorizes an organ (anatomy), organ of their own to be removed and organ transplantation, transplanted to another person, #Legislation and global perspectives, legally, either by consent while the d ...

. The company has a 37%

market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a Market (economics), market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those ...

in the U.S. dialysis market. It is organized in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

and based in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. In 2023, 67% of the company's revenues came from Medicare and other government-based health insurance programs. In 2023, 89% of the company's patients were covered by government-based health insurance programs. Commercial payers, which accounted for 33% of revenues in 2023, generate nearly all of the company's profit as they reimburse at a much higher rate than government-based health insurance programs. The company is ranked 341st on the

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

. The name "DaVita" was derived from the

Italian language Italian (, , or , ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It evolved from the colloquial Latin of the Roman Empire. Italian is the least divergent language from Latin, together with Sardinian language, Sardinian. It is ...

phrase "Dare Vita", which means "to give life".

History

The company was founded in 1979 as Medical Ambulatory Care, Inc., a subsidiary of National Medical Enterprises, Inc. (now

Tenet Healthcare Tenet Healthcare Corporation is an American for-profit multinational healthcare services company based in Dallas, Texas. Through its brands, subsidiaries, joint ventures, and partnerships, including United Surgical Partners International (US ...

). In August 1994, 70% of the company was acquired by

DLJ Merchant Banking Partners aPriori Capital Partners is a private equity investment firm focused on leveraged buyout transactions. The firm was founded as an affiliate of Credit Suisse and traces its roots to Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, the investment bank acquired by Cr ...

in a

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is the acquisition of a company using a significant proportion of borrowed money (Leverage (finance), leverage) to fund the acquisition with the remainder of the purchase price funded with private equity. The assets of t ...

for $75.5 million, including a $10.5 million investment by DLJ. The company then changed its name to Total Renal Care Holdings, Inc. In October 1995, the company became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...

via an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

, raising $107 million. By December 1996, DLJ had made a 386% return on its $10.5 million investment. On February 27, 1998, the company acquired Renal Treatment Centers for $1.3 billion in stock. The integration went poorly and in July 1999, the CEO and CFO resigned. After tripling in value between 1995 and 1998, by July 1999, the stock price was down 71% year-to-date. In October 1999, Kent J. Thiry, then 43 years old, was named CEO. In 2000, the company sold its non-U.S. operations. In October 2000, the company was renamed DaVita Inc. In October 2005, the company acquired Gambro Healthcare. In October 2014, the company agreed to pay $350 million to settle claims that it provided illegal kickbacks to doctors. In June 2015, the company agreed to pay $450 million to settle allegations that it unnecessarily disposed of drugs and then billed the U.S. federal government for this waste. In June 2018, a jury awarded the families of 3 of the company's patients $383 million in

wrongful death claim Wrongful death is a type of legal claim or cause of action against a person who can be held liable for a death. The claim is brought in a civil action, usually by close relatives, as authorized by statute. In wrongful death cases, survivors are ...

s after the patients died from

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

after undergoing treatment at DaVita centers. In July 2021, a federal grand jury indicted DaVita and former CEO Kent Thiry on charges of labor market collusion alleging participation in conspiracies with Surgical Care Affiliates to suppress competition for the services of certain senior-level employees. The company and Thiry were acquitted by a jury in April 2022.

Healthcare Partners

In 2012, DaVita acquired Healthcare Partners for $4.42 billion. In 2014, it acquired Colorado Springs Health Partners, with 600 employees and 110,000 patients. In March 2016, it acquired The Everett Clinic Medical Group, a 20-site physicians practice with 315,000 patients in the Seattle area, for $385 million. In September 2016, Healthcare Partners was renamed DaVita Medical Group. In May 2017, it acquired WellHealth Quality Care. In October 2018, it agreed to pay $270 million to settle allegations that it violated the

False Claims Act False or falsehood may refer to: * False (logic), the negation of truth in classical logic * Lie or falsehood, a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement * False statement, aka a falsehood, falsity, misstatement or untruth, is a st ...

by providing inaccurate information that caused

Medicare Advantage Medicare Advantage (Medicare Part C) is a type of health plan in the United States offered by private companies which was established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. This created a private insurance option that wraps around traditional Me ...

Plans to receive inflated payments. James Swoben, a

whistleblower Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...

, received $10 million. In June 2019, the division was sold to

UnitedHealth Group UnitedHealth Group Incorporated is an American Multinational corporation, multinational for-profit company specializing in health insurance and health care services based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Selling insurance products under UnitedHealth ...

Optum Optum, Inc. is an American healthcare company that provides technology services, pharmacy care services (including a pharmacy benefit manager) and various direct healthcare services. Optum was formed as a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group in ...

division for $4.3 billion.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1979 establishments in California 1995 initial public offerings American companies established in 1979 Berkshire Hathaway Companies based in Denver Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Health care companies based in Colorado Health care companies established in 1979 Renal dialysis organizations in the United States