Press Releases

New WellBound Self-Care Dialysis Center Opens in Northern California

Milpitas Unit is Company’s Seventh Self-Care Center of Excellence

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA, August 16, 2006 – WellBound, the first company focused exclusively on supporting the full spectrum of self-care dialysis therapies, today announced the official opening of its seventh specialized self-care dialysis facility.   Located in Milpitas, 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.

“By bringing this new center to Milpitas, we are aiming to empower kidney disease patients to take control of their health and experience the benefits associated with self-care dialysis,” said Marc Branson, WellBound’s chief executive officer.  “Along with our physician partners, we are very excited to introduce this new home dialysis program to the community.”

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. 

“The superior health benefits that we see WellBound patients experience mirror those in the growing self-care scientific literature,” stated Mr. Branson.  “These benefits are made possible not only through the proactive wellness education programs we provide and the innovative therapies we support, but also 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
• Clinical care coordination services delivered by certified nephrology nurses
• 24/7 patient care telephone support

“A driving force behind our decision to partner with WellBound is our shared belief in a comprehensive approach to treating chronic kidney disease,” said Khoi Nguyen Hoang, M.D., medical director of the new WellBound Milpitas center.  “In addition to personalized training in all home dialysis therapies, Wellbound also offers our kidney disease patients broad wellness educational programs aimed at providing them with additional tools for maintaining their health.  Furthermore, the company places a priority on dialysis options education so that patients are prepared to select the best treatment once they require dialysis therapy.”

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 seven 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