Press Releases

WellBound Opens New Self-Care Dialysis Center of Excellence

Stockton Center is Company's Sixth Self-Care Program

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA, July 17, 2006 – WellBound, the first company focused exclusively on supporting the full spectrum of self-care dialysis therapies, today announced the official opening of its sixth specialized self-care dialysis center. Located in Stockton, CA, this “Center of Excellence” will support nephrologists from surrounding communities in providing patients with kidney disease education along with innovative self-care dialysis therapies.

“The opening of this center will provide those people in Stockton and surrounding communities with access to WellBound’s innovative brand of home dialysis,” said Marc Branson, WellBound’s chief executive officer. “Together with our physician partners, we are striving to empower patients with kidney disease to take control of their health in order to achieve the benefits associated with self-care dialysis.”

There is an expanding body of scientific evidence that demonstrates that patients who receive more frequent and longer dialysis achieve superior clinical outcomes and enhanced quality of life as compared to those that do not. WellBound’s patient-friendly centers ensure optimal patient care by combining a focus on wellness and education with innovative self-care therapies that provide more frequent dialysis.

“At this year’s Annual Dialysis Conference, we presented clinical data clearly demonstrating the clinical and quality of life benefits that are achieved by patients that receive self-care dialysis therapies through WellBound,” stated Mr. Branson. “These impressive outcomes are made possible through the proactive wellness education programs we provide, the innovative therapies we support, and the robust support services that we offer to nephrologists and their patients.”

WellBound provides its physician partners with a high degree of clinical support. These comprehensive support services are provided by WellBound's dedicated team of self-care dialysis medical professionals and include:

• Early education programs addressing kidney transplantation, dialysis therapy options, and vascular access planning
• Patient wellness programs focused on high blood pressure, stress management, exercise, nutrition and diabetes care
• Training programs for all forms of self-care dialysis including peritoneal dialysis and home hemodialysis
• Clinical care coordination services delivered by certified nephrology nurses
• 24/7 patient care telephone support

“In deciding to partner with Wellbound, we were very impressed with the company’s comprehensive approach to patient care, as well as its self-care therapy expertise, particularly as it relates to peritoneal dialysis,” said Jagjit Singh, M.D., medical director of the new WellBound Stockton center.

“By providing our kidney disease patients with greatly expanded educational programs in wellness and dialysis options, as well as personalized training in home dialysis therapies such as peritoneal dialysis, we believe that WellBound can play a key role in supporting our delivery of quality care to our patients,” added P. Babu Sagireddy, M.D., associate medical director of the WellBound Stockton center.

About Self-Care Dialysis
The term self-care dialysis refers to those dialysis therapies which patients are able to self-administer outside the confines of hemodialysis centers, including peritoneal dialysis and all types of home hemodialysis. A growing collection of clinical research clearly demonstrates that the more frequent, more consistent dialysis associated with self-care provides patients with improved health outcomes such as improved mortality rates and reduced hospitalizations. Home dialysis also offers significant quality of life advantages including greater convenience, more flexible schedules, and fewer fluid and dietary restrictions.

About WellBound
Founded in 2003, WellBound is an affiliate of dialysis industry leader Satellite Healthcare. As the first company focused exclusively on the full continuum of self-care dialysis options, WellBound frees chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients from in-center dialysis treatment regimens by offering multiple, state-of-the-art "self-care" treatment options. The company's unique expertise in personalized self-care training and patient wellness facilitates a higher quality of life and improved clinical outcomes for CKD patients, while enabling physicians to offer a new, superior level of care.

The company has established five operational self-care dialysis facilities and is actively engaged in launching a network of WellBound "Centers of Excellence" designed to deliver the full spectrum of self-care dialysis options, including peritoneal dialysis and daily home hemodialysis. To learn more about WellBound, please visit www.wellbound.com or contact the company directly at 1.800.476.5450

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Contacts:
WellBound
Marc Branson
(650) 404-3613

Vida Communication
Stephanie Diaz
(415) 675-7400
Tim Brons (media)
(415) 675-7402