Puget Sound Kidney Centers began with one man’s vision for better care for his patients. In the late 1970s, Dr. Christian Schmitt wanted to ensure his Everett patients had access to local kidney dialysis care and support. At the time, there were no dialysis treatment centers between Seattle and the Canadian border, and patients would often fall ill from long travel days to and from a Seattle dialysis treatment center. Dr. Schmitt reached out to community leaders, most notably the late Senator Henry Jackson, to launch a campaign to establish a community-based nonprofit dialysis center that would deliver the very best in care and compassion to patients in need in Snohomish County.
Puget Sound Kidney Centers opened its doors in Everett on April 15, 1981 and, more than 40 years later, now provides 91,000 dialysis treatments a year to 500 patients in eleven centers, at home and in local hospitals. We also educate the community about kidney health and have a Foundation that fundraises for additional patient support programs.
We celebrate Dr. Schmitt for his unwavering commitment to patients. What started as one man’s vision continues to make a great difference in the lives of many kidney patients in our community.
