DaVita Village Trust Breaks Surgery Record during Recent Mission to Jamaica

Surgeons complete 63 fistula placement surgeries in three hospitals

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Nov 24, 2014, 06:24 ET

DENVER, Nov. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- DaVita Village Trust (DVT), an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving kidney health, primary health and chronic kidney disease (CKD) awareness, today announced the completion of a weeklong surgical mission in Jamaica that included one record-breaking day of surgeries for a local hospital.

In October, four vascular surgeons and an ultrasound technician traveled to Jamaica to perform 63 fistula placement surgeries for dialysis patients at three hospitals through the Bridge of Life program of DVT.

Surgeons completed 27 arteriovenous fistula (AVF) surgeries in one day at Mandeville Regional Hospital in Mandeville – a record-breaking number of surgeries in one day for the hospital. Surgeons also completed 22 AVF surgeries in two days at St. Joseph's Hospital in Kingston and 14 AVF surgeries at St. Ann's Bay Hospital.

"With the support of our surgical volunteers and in-country partners, DaVita Village Trust provides an expensive surgery – which is normally not an option – free-of-charge to Jamaican patients in an effort to improve their overall health and quality of dialysis care," says Lori Vaclavik, executive director of DaVita Village Trust. "By decreasing the use of dialysis catheters, we can help make a major impact on mortality, morbidity and hospitalization rates for Jamaicans with CKD."

Over the past three years, DVT has sponsored three other surgical missions to Jamaica, during which surgeons performed a total of 191 AVF surgeries. DVT surgeons worked alongside local physicians, nurses and other health care personnel to provide quality care to patients.

AVFs are the gold standard for hemodialysis vascular access around the world. When compared with catheter or graft dialysis access, patients with AVFs have lower morbidity and mortality rates, in addition to fewer hospitalizations and interventions. The functional vascular access life is longer for AVFs when compared with AV grafts and catheters. AV grafts are not an option for dialysis in Jamaica due to prohibitive cost, making AVFs even more important.

DVT is currently organizing medical missions to new sites, in partnership with the nonprofit organizations Red Cross in Mexico and Curando Mexico, to add hemodialysis treatment to the following three outpatient clinics:

Cuautitlan, Mexico: Setting up a new five-station dialysis clinic
Tlalnepantla, Mexico: Installing five dialysis machines at a new clinic
Toluca, Mexico: Setting up a new five-station dialysis clinic

For more information about DVT and upcoming missions, please visit www.DaVitaVillageTrust.org.

About DaVita Village Trust
DaVita Village Trust, an organization founded by DaVita Healthcare Partners, is improving access to kidney health, primary health and chronic kidney disease (CKD) awareness while saving lives through early-detection testing, kidney care education and increased access to dialysis treatment and primary care in underserved communities around the world. In 2014, DaVita Village Trust brought together two prominent kidney care non-profit organizations: Bridge of Life and The Kidney TRUST. The combination of these programs allows DaVita Village Trust to provide a full range of kidney care services. These include international medical missions that deliver dialysis treatment to patients who would otherwise not receive care and free-rapid screening programs to identify those who have signs of kidney impairment within the U.S. and abroad. The focus of the DaVita Village Trust programs is based on DEPTH: Delivering Education, Prevention, Treatment and Hope. Kidney disease is a wide-spread epidemic with no simple answers or solutions. We believe that only through an approach that encompasses all aspects of kidney disease, from awareness to screenings to treatment, will we be able to make a difference for those in need of care.

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 Sept. 30, 2014, DaVita Kidney Care operated or provided administrative services at 2,152 outpatient dialysis centers located in the United States serving approximately 170,000 patients. The company also operated 87 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 and Florida in its pursuit to deliver excellent-quality health care in a dignified and compassionate manner. As of Sept. 30, 2014, HealthCare Partners provided integrated care management for approximately 836,000 patients. For more information, please visit DaVitaHealthCarePartners.com.