From KT – August 4, 2011

Yo DaVitans!

It is a beautiful Thursday morning here in California.  I hope you are all well, and living the new life you set out to when we started MTM, whether that was with a small change or big change is not important …. That you set out to change and did is what is important.  The longest journey begins with but a single step.

Let’s see, yesterday I got up, worked for an hour or so, then did a quick workout.  20 min on bike (I listen to DaVita voicemail while on the bike, so it is double efficient time, even though after the first 6-7 minutes I can no longer respond since I am breathing too hard, but I can still listen and respond later), 40 push-ups, and some stretching/shoulder injury rehab stuff.  Total of only 27 minutes.  BUT while in the shower I remembered I was not supposed to workout at my regular morning time, because I had a pre-dinner bike ride booked for later that day.  Yikes.  Oh well, the good news is I would get a double workout day, especially given the first one was not much.

Anyway, I had my shredded wheat bkfast.  Then I was off to the airport, with a conference call on the drive.  I worked the entire flight with a couple other DaVita people(one standing, but he is a young man and can handle that burden).  We landed, I did a conference call on the car ride to the Casa Norte our San Francisco office.  Once I arrived I had skinless chicken and green beans (1.5 servings of beans) – and I had a bowl of mixed berries, another 1.5 servings.

We did the final couple hours of prep for our quarterly earnings report to shareholders, which is always intense.  Then we did the actual live report, first we present for 15-20 minutes, then they ask questions for 45-60 minutes.  It went fine, and we performed solidly.  We are the only public company we know of that starts each earnings call with a report on our clinical outcomes, not financial.

Then I had a couple more meetings in the office.  I did a conference call on the drive to our old California home, which we have kept so far since my wife would only agree to move to Colorado if we kept it (yikes again, but a deal is a deal).  Once home I did a meeting until 6:15 pm, then went on a one hour bike ride which includes an intense 29 minute climb up a 1300 foot, 1.9 mile hill.  I did this with Misha Palacek, one of our Group Vice President’s, so we could talk business the whole ride except for the last 15 minutes of the hill.

At 7:30 I raced through a shower to join my wife and daughter for dinner, it is not often I am in California and get to see my daughter so that was special and fun and I actually took the rest of the night off!  I had 2 servings of fresh broccoli at dinner, along with the pork tenderloin so it was a strong eating day.   AND it was Day #5 without a dessert.

Today my first conference call was at 7 am, prior to which I had my shredded wheat bkfast.  I have back to back meetings all day except for one hour to try to catch up on stuff.  I am also giving a speech about The DaVita Story to 40 senior executives from 40 of the largest hospital systems in America, which IS A VERY COOL TRIBUTE TO THE COOL STUFF THAT YOU GUYS DO.

They are curious about how you have created such a mission and values driven environment in such a high percentage of our local teams.  With great clinical outcomes and high productivity/stewardship.  So please savor the compliment of organizations like that wanting to learn about … us!  We are far from perfect, of course, but we are special in so many ways in so many places – where people have decided to make the Village concept come alive.  Where we care for each other with the same intensity with which we care for our patients.  And we strive to care for the world in the same way.  A community first, and a company second.

My exercise is scheduled for 5:30 pm today, once again with Misha so we can discuss business while we workout.  I hope to beat the time up the hill, I was disappointed yesterday.  After that it will be another easy night, as we have dinner with friends we have not seen for a long time.  2 non-work nights in a row!  Tomorrow I fly back to Colorado, I hope to see some of you as Shining Stars for the first Nationwide DaVita Kidney Rock Event in Denver.

I only got to weigh myself once in Denver, since I have only been there one morning over the last 2 weeks.  I have found any one day can be misleading.  But the number was 191, which suggests I may have dropped a little bit of weight so far.  I will keep you posted.

As I hope you are keeping your friends posted on your progress.  Remember, there are 2000 friends cheering you on!  When I was tempted to have the ice cream they were serving last night at dinner, I just pictured the 2000 of you surrounding me in bleacher seats yelling in unison “KT, don’t do it”.  And I didn’t.  THANKS FOR HELPING ME !!!!

One for All

KT

(“Tis better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure … then to take ranks with those who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, for they live in that gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat”  from Teddy Roosevelt .. and DaVita will never live in that gray twilight while this little midwestern boy is Mayor)