We are a group of six nephrologists practicing mainly in Olympia, Washington. Our referral area extends to the five counties of Southwest Washington. Our practice is limited to the west by the Pacific Ocean, to the north by the Tacoma area and to the south, by Vancouver-Longview, WA and Portland metropolitan areas. We are the only Nephrology group in the area which was founded in 1973. Our group is well considered by the local medical communities for our excellent quality of care ever since. Our most senior associate, Dr. Vo Nguyen (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) started in 1992. Our second associate, Dr. Seth Thaler (University of Colorado, Denver) joined the program in 1999. Our third associate, Dr. Chris Burtner (University of Virginia, Charlottesville) joined in 2004. Our fourth associate, Dr. Julia Anuras (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis) joined our practice in 2008. Our fifth associate, Dr. Lana Bur (George Washington University, Washington DC) joined our practice in 2010. Our sixth and most recent associate, Dr. Angela Muriithi (Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minneosta) joined our practice in 2014
Our practice is mainly Nephrology, including renal consultation, pre-ESRD care, dialysis and transplant follow up. We serve as Medical Directors for Fresenius, which owns five local hemodialysis units, an active home dialysis (peritoneal and home hemodialysis) program, and an acute hemodialysis program. Peter Hospital is located directly across the street from our office. Our total dialysis population is currently about 365 patients and continues to increase annually. Our hemodialysis program is considered by the Pacific Northwest Renal Network (covering the 5 NW states and based in Seattle) to be the best practice in vascular access (84% fistula rate for the whole program vs. 31% for the US average) with lower morbidity. The Aberdeen unit averaging 92% AVF rate, 8% catheter, has probably one of the best vascular access programs in the country. Our Philosophy
Our main emphasis is on quality of care. Good patient care keeps our patients healthy and happy living at home. Our dialysis patients spend an average of only 6.9 days per year in the hospital compared with the national average of 15 days.
