The DaVita Culture..... My take on it...

[bioya]

As a long term Gambro employee, I was a little worried with the DaVita buyout. I had heard that they cut cut cut to make more and more revenue. That worried me.  I did give it a shot. I went to the 2005 Las Vegas meeting and listened to what they had to say. They talked a LOT about their core values and their mission, etc, etc. They kept brining up their seventh core value, FUN. They seemed to hit on it a lot, and I am not just saying that.  During their meeting in Vegas, we did have some classes. Most were about their values, and how they came into being, and how proud they were that they went from a company that was about to be forclosed on, to one making billions a year. I have to give them credit, they did do that. I am not a party animal, and did not enjoy the evening parties and drunk-fests. I was very uncomfortable with it and everyone in my area knew it. During the LasVegas meeting they gave away several HUGE vacation gifts to employees. I think the value was like 5 or 10 thousand dollars and could be New York, Vegas, Paris, etc. It was amazing what they did to get your attention.
My boss then wanted me to go to San Francisco to attend one of their academies. It was two days of DaVita bullshit (300 of us at this one and there are 24 to 48 a year all over the United States), their mission and values, their take on the dialysis industry, etc, etc. My take on it was that you either bought into it or you were in trouble. My God, they praised KT, they talked about him like he was the new and improved Jesus. He came to the academy and had a "town hall" where he talked to us. He gave us pep talk and his "one for all and all for one" pledge where we were now "DaVitians". I guess he goes to every academy no matter where in the US and attends to show his support. One thing just kept eating at me.... was how they honestly believed their own tales. Does he REALLY think DaVita is a village and he is the mayor? Good Lord.....
Well, then came the Dallas national meeting. Here is a link to the hotel we stayed in.... YOU look and tell me if it was excessive?? ( http://www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylordtexan/ )  Now listen, Gambro had these meetings too, but never so much was put into one. We came in on buses from the DFW airport to the hotel. They had so many people there that they had to keep one entire division of employees in another hotel and bus them back and forth for the meetings and parties. DaVita has a professional video studio that travels to all of their meetings and films everything that happens (hince the DVD). They wanted us to show this DVD to employees. And of course, the vast majority were taken back by the excessive party atmosphere. We had a few meetings and then had party time. Lets see, Wed night was parade night where KT rode in on a long-horn bull, Thursday night was divisional night where each division had a theme and you had to dress up and party. Friday night was skit night where it was so horrible. People dressed up in the most stupid things and made a total and complete ass of themselves. Then Sat. night was the "formal awards" night. Thats where they sang the song to Representative Eric Cantor (R-VA-7th District).  he is the person who was trying to get a medicare rate increase for the dialysis industry. The song was to the tune of "when the saints go marching in"... and it went.. "oh when Cantor.. goes marching in.. oh when Cantor goes marching in.... etc, etc.
I would say that 5 to 6 million dollars were spent in that one meeting. Airfare, Video crews, Professional sound crews, meals for 2500 three times a day, hotels (two hotels), buses, telephones, computers, etc, etc. They gave away lavish prizes too.
Folks, for a short period, when I came back from San Francisco, I honestly fell into their way of thinking. I had "home room meetings" each morning, had everyone watch the "we are here" videos, I sang the song and drank the kool-aid.  But then the cuts started coming. It became obvious from their actions that their words and deeds were not one and the same. They changed patient schedules, they moved HIPPER (high income private insurance patients) to better times and chairs to keep them at the facility, even if the patient they replaced had been in that time/chair for months or years. They cut hours and reduced the staff in the unit to what I consider to be dangerous. Where before we had the time and resources (when we were Gambro) to keep your medical records current, check your medications, talk to your doctors, assess your current health, etc, etc, we now only had time to throw you on the machine and take you off.   "Teammates" (new DaVita word for employee) had their hours cut across the board. So while your sitting in your unit, in a situation where you have no idea how dangerous your stay really is, KT, Joe Mello, and others are raking in millions in salary and bonus checks. Do you honestly think they do this because they love you??
I was told that if you don't drink the kool-aid, you will not last. I honestly felt that I could last and not give into what I felt was the bullshit that is DaVita, but they were right. You can't have a heart, you can't care about the patient, you can't care about the staff, and work for DaVita.
Do I miss the money... hell yes I miss the money. Do I miss my patients and their families.... hell yes I do.  Do I miss my co-workers that cared so much for the patients, hell yes... But do I miss the lies and the cuts just so KT can make more money for himself and the stockholders, HELL NO.
I am sorry if I have went on and on. I did not mean to. I just can't believe that people buy into the DaVita culture. These people that are your FA's and ROD's would sell their souls for a few bucks. I will never "know" what you the patient go through. I pray I never find out. I am sorry that you are the pawns in a horrible game of money and power.

[Rerun]

Why don't you turn them into CMS?   

That really makes me sick epically when we have to use adding machine tape to write our weights down on.  I went and bought a pretty spiral pad that lasted two weeks.  What a racket!

[angieskidney]

wow that is a great post! I know Sandman has been wanting to hear about DaVita before I ever do dialysis in the States.

[sandman]

Well, if Davita has a mentality like that then this may shoot down my intentions of hoping to get Angie on home dialysis here in my city.  I have been checking around a little and so far and Davita was the only one I could find, offering home dialysis.

[Rerun]

If you are on "home" dialysis then you won't deal with DaVita on a daily basis.  You may have to go through the training but then you go HOME and only have to order supplies and your dealings with them will be limited.

[Black]

If you are on "home" dialysis then you won't deal with DaVita on a daily basis.  You may have to go through the training but then you go HOME and only have to order supplies and your dealings with them will be limited.

And that is probably why so many are so eager to go home, and why home patients live so much longer!

[sandman]

Okay, good point.  Then I will reserve the thought of going to Davita for, if and when Angie decides she is ready for home hemo and no one else is offering it.

[Epoman]

Okay, good point.  Then I will reserve the thought of going to Davita for, if and when Angie decides she is ready for home hemo and no one else is offering it.

Yes, Davita for home dialysis will be fine in my opinion. Check out http://davitaathome.com/ for more information. I had talked to some really nice people in that divsion.

OH MY GOD, did I just say something nice about Davita. 

/washes mouth out with soap

[sandman]

OH MY GOD, did I just say something nice about Davita. 

/washes mouth out with soap

I believe you did sir.  /me hands epoman a bar of soap. 



By the way, after speaking with Angie, she tells me that her clinic is associated with Fresenius so I should look for clinics that deal with them.  This is what I found in my area.  The first two are literally only 5 minutes walking distance from my house!  Anyone ( other then Angie ) have any dealings with Fresenius?
Fresenius Medical Centers Locations

[Bajanne]

It's Fresenius.  Those are the machines that we use at my centre, but my centre is not really a Fresenius centre.

[angieskidney]

My unit is a hospital run unit .. but we use Fresenius machines. The PD department has just recently switched to Baxter though. But Sandman, maybe you should start another thread about Fresenius

So the davita at home is not so bad then eh?

[billable]

I almost got my wife signed up with Davita.  They were very nice at the home training unit that I visited in Memphis.  We chose them because they were the closest training unit to my home that offered Nxstage.  Still they were 1 1/2 hour drive from my house.  Anyway, we met with the training nurse and the medical director.  Both were very nice.  Told me that there wouldn't be a problem, until they found out that Denise only had medicare and no supplemental insurance.  Then Nxstage wasn't an option even though I assured them I would be paying the difference.

I found out from the Nxstage rep that DCI was starting training in Nashville.  We are there 2nd people to train on the system.  They are wonderful.  We are meeting with Dr. Johnson Wednesday.  He is the person that started DCI.  Can't believe that the founder of the company is going to actually be Denise's nephrologist.  Totally different response than Davita.

I have nothing but nice things to say about them, so far.  We have dealt with DCI in Jackson, TN while Denise was on PD since December and they were fantastic as well.  If you are close to either one of these facilities, definitely consider them.

[rablrowsr]

The culture is very "cultish".  Everything is motivated by money, centers who don't have "high insurance paying patients"  (HIPPERS), don't get the staff they need for patient care.  Huge amounts of money is spent wining and dining, (brainwashing), staff to believe they care about patients and staff.  Now they are even talking about providing transportation for the high insurance patients, but not for others.  The next big thing is the pharmacy program.  It's not enough they want the reimbursement for dialysis, they are figuring out how to corral the medication reimbursements as well.  The very difficult thing is that they know how to make it all look above board on paper.  I hope I'm not anywhere around when they get what is coming to them.

[angieskidney]

Now they are even talking about providing transportation for the high insurance patients, but not for others. 

What jerks!

You would think that they would be nice enough to help out the poorer ones who can't afford high insurance by helping them with transportation instead of provinding transportation for the ones who can already afford it anyway!! Grrrr

[sandman]

Yeah, really.  What ever happened to caring for the patients?  Seems anymore, the medical profession is only in it for the money, and that's just wrong. 

[kitkatz]

Unfortunately: Money makes the world go around!

[bluedove57]

I respect your honesty. I dialized in a Gambro clinic that Davita bought out. They can't keep staff, workers are under paid and it's the patient that pays. 3 Cheers to you for posting this. I would report this nationally if I have  the inside view. How many patients will pay the cost for their greed. God will surely frown on them some day. Hopefully sooner than later.

[thegrammalady]

my neph thinks davita is evil