Fresenius Medical Care North America Announces Ongoing Support for Direct Patient Care Staff to Address Financial Challenges and Wellbeing
WALTHAM, Mass., March 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA), the nation’s leading provider of kidney care products and services, today confirmed that it is providing childcare stipends and supplemental pay to support direct patient care staff. In addition, the company has implemented policies and procedures related to personal protective equipment that are designed to provide the highest degree of safety possible for employees and patients.
"Our employees across the entire organization have been unwavering in their commitment to providing life-sustaining care to our patients as we navigate the impacts of COVID-19," said Bill Valle, CEO of FMCNA. "We firmly believe that by providing superior care to our direct patient staff, they will be able to provide superior care to our patients. It's our mission to do so, while setting the standard for the industry, and it's even more important during this unprecedented situation."
In order to help protect employees, patients, and physicians, the company aggressively implemented safety measures in their clinics starting on February 14, including screening all patients and staff entering their clinics and no longer accepting international travelers for treatment. Across all of their dialysis clinics, patients are required to wear masks, and employees and physicians are required to wear full personal protective equipment. These actions greatly reduced close contact among patients and staff at a very early stage in the response to COVID-19. The company also rolled out an expanded telehealth platform to support social distancing for both home and in-center patients.
On March 18, the company announced a childcare and eldercare stipend that applies to all direct patient care team members, including dialysis nurses, patient care technicians, dietitians, social workers, pharmacists, biomedical technicians, educational coordinators, and other positions critical to delivering care to patients, whether in dialysis clinics, vascular care centers, or laboratories.
In addition, on March 22 the company announced that all hourly direct patient care team members will receive emergency pay on top of their regular wages for every hour worked delivering or supporting patient care. Salaried employees will also receive this additional pay when delivering or supporting patient care.
"It is critical for us to focus on our employees so we can treat the more than 200,000 patients who have entrusted us with their care," said Valle. "It is with this in mind that we have acted proactively, quickly, and decisively by leveraging our global learnings, and have implemented policies that support our employees' financial challenges, health, and wellbeing."
About Fresenius Medical Care North America
Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA) is the premier healthcare company focused on providing the highest quality care to people with renal and other chronic conditions. Through its industry-leading network of dialysis facilities and outpatient cardiac and vascular labs, Fresenius Medical Care North America provides coordinated healthcare services at pivotal care points for hundreds of thousands of chronically ill customers throughout the continent. As the world’s largest fully integrated renal company, it offers specialty pharmacy and laboratory services, and manufactures and distributes the most comprehensive line of dialysis equipment, disposable products, and renal pharmaceuticals. For more information, visit the FMCNA website at https://fmcna.com/.
Media Contact:
Fresenius Medical Care North America
Brad Puffer
Corporate Communications
brad.puffer@fmc-na.com
(781) 699-3331
SOURCE Fresenius Medical Care Holdings, Inc.