During DCI’s fall annual meeting, staff from across the U.S. come together to celebrate the quality care provided in DCI clinics, learn about advances in kidney care and reenergize ourselves to fulfill DCI’s patient-centric mission. Each year, in St. Pete Beach, Fla., we award individuals, clinics, hospital services programs and clinic leadership for striving to better our organization and empowering patients to live their best lives.
2025 DCI Employee of the Year
Congratulations to DCI’s 2025 Employees of the Year: Osage Beach, Mo., Nurse Manager Donna Whittle, RN, BSN, NM; and Cincinnati, Ohio, Patient Care Technician Parshawna Johnson. We also celebrate our 2025 Corporate Employee of the Year Paralegal Patti Bielefeld.
Nancy Johnson Heart Award Recipients
Each year, DCI Vice Chair of the Board and REACH Kidney Care Co-founder Dr. Doug Johnson bestows the Nancy Johnson Heart Award on employees embodying the spirit of his mom Nancy. Congratulations to Lisa, Pat and Blenda, the 2025 Nancy Johnson Heart Award recipients.
DCI Darwin Peterson Award Winners
We celebrate our 2025 top-performing dialysis clinics with the DCI Darwin Peterson Award for achieving the best quality and patient outcomes.Â
DCI Fort Bragg in California received the Darwin Award as a small, in-center hemodialysis clinic, serving 34 or fewer patients, and DCI Brooklyn in New York was named the Darwin Award winner as a large, in-center hemodialysis clinic serving 35 patients or more. Darwin Peterson award criteria include being a Gold Star honoree for strong patient outcomes, as well as percentages of patients with a catheter rate less than or equal to 17% for more than 90 days, patients on the UNOS transplant waiting list and medicine reconciliation, as well as patients receiving the flu vaccine.Â
Congratulations to DCI Fort Bragg and DCI Brooklyn. We celebrate your dedication to being the best for our patients!Â
DCI Gold and Silver Star Clinics
Gold Star Clinics
Congratulations to DCI clinics that were honored as Gold Star facilities. From September 2024 to August 2025, 10 DCI clinics met or exceeded the following Star Award criteria: catheter > 90 days, patients active on the UNOS transplant waitlist, medicine reconciliation and encouraging patients to receive the flu vaccine. Â
Clinical excellence positively impacts the care of our patients and we are grateful to our employees who strive for the best!
Silver Star Clinics
Congratulations to 42 DCI clinics named 2025 Silver Star clinics for meeting three of the four criteria: catheter > 90 days, patients active on the UNOS transplant waitlist, medicine reconciliation and encouraging patients to receive the flu vaccine.Â
We celebrate your commitment to clinical excellence and appreciate the wonderful care you provide to our patients! Thank you!
5 Diamond Patient Safety Program
Our clinics strive to reinforce the importance of patient safety within their facilities and the 5 Diamond Patient Safety Program helps them to learn ways to assess and improve. Clinics earn the designation when successfully completing five modules and staff answering questionnaires. DCI is proud to name these 5 Diamond Patient Safety Program Award recipients.Â
2025 Hospital Services Deficiency-free Accreditation Survey Honorees
DCI recognized Area Operations Managers and Nurse Managers from hospital programs with deficiency-free accreditation surveys in 2025. These programs comply with the Conditions of Participation, regulatory requirements for participating in Medicare and receiving Medicare and Medicaid payments. The dialysis programs met all Conditions of Participation requirements as part of their hospital-wide programs.Â
Congratulations to these hospital programs!Â
DCI Poster Contest
DCI’s annual meeting includes a poster contest. The clinics are given a theme and use their creativity to help educate patients on important topics. Meeting attendees voted on their favorite posters in three categories. Congratulations to DCI Lyerly, Tenn., for Clear Message; DCI Shreveport, La., for Visual Appeal; and DCI Manchester, Conn., for Creativity/Originality.
 
Thank you to our thousands of employees at more than 240 clinics across the U.S. and U.S. Virgin Islands for striving to provide the best care and empowering people with kidney disease to live their best lives. We celebrate you and your tireless efforts to fulfill DCI’s mission, “the care of the patient is our reason for existence.”