DaVita, a division of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. (NYSE: DVA) and a leading provider of kidney care services, today announced it has signed a major tender from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health to treat half of the approximately 10,000 dialysis patients currently under the Ministry’s care.
Under the award DaVita will operate as many as 80 centers and is undertaking a substantial recruitment effort to attract new clinical and administrative teammates from within Saudi Arabia and across the world. Many career opportunities have already been posted on DaVita.com/SA with more coming in the near future.
“This is another important step in our vision for expanding our kidney care services internationally,†said Kent Thiry, co-chairman and CEO of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. “It is an honor for DaVita to work with the Ministry of Health to deliver high-quality kidney care to its patients.â€
“We congratulate Health Minister Dr. Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Rabeeah on making this agreement possible and for working to improve the quality of life for people living with chronic kidney disease in Saudi Arabia,†said Dennis Kogod, chief operating officer of DaVita HealthCare Partners.
As in many parts of the world, prevalence of chronic kidney disease in Saudi Arabia has accelerated over the past three decades due largely to changing lifestyles, population growth, urbanization and longer life expectancies.