DaVita Inc., a Fortune 500 company and a leading provider of kidney care, is announcing the planned opening of a dialysis treatment facility here.

The new center is scheduled to begin treating patients later this year under the medical directorship of Southwest Kidney Institute Nephrologist Donn Hogan, M.D.

The center will be DaVita’s joint venture partnership with Southwest Kidney Institute.

A local recruitment team has been working with DaVita and Southwest Kidney for some time to bring a dialysis treatment center to town.

That team includes Town Councilman Dennis Brown, Town Manager Ken Buchanan, Fountain Hills Economic Development Specialist Scott Cooper, Dave Hummel, Barbara Patterson-Whitehead and Jim Judge chaired the group.

“We are extremely pleased that Da Vita and Southwest Kidney have chosen to open a center in Fountain Hills to serve the people of our community as well as others in the surrounding areas,” Judge said.

The facility will feature in-center hemodialysis therapy as well as a top of the line training center for those interested in learning to do dialysis at home.

Fountain Hills Dialysis is to be located at 13430 N. Saguaro Blvd., building 3.

DaVita also offers monthly free community education classes at various locations in the Valley.

This series of three classes encourages participants with all stages of chronic kidney disease to ESRD. To register for classes go to www.kidneysmart.org and click on Kidney Education Classes, find classes, and register.

DaVita strives to improve patients’ quality of life by innovating clinical care, and by offering integrated treatment plans, personalized care teams and convenient health-management services.

As of Dec. 31, 2011, DaVita operated or provided administrative services at 1,809 dialysis facilities in the United States, serving approximately 142,000 patients.

The company also operated 11 outpatient dialysis centers located in three countries outside the United States.

DaVita supports numerous programs dedicated to creating positive, sustainable change in communities around the world.

The company’s leadership development initiatives and social responsibility efforts have been recognized by Fortune, Modern Healthcare, Newsweek and WorldBlu.

DaVita — which is Italian for ‘giving life’ — has more than 41,000 teammates (employees) nationally and internationally working to provide superior patient care and exemplify the company’s core values.

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