Kidney care is evolving. Providers are moving beyond traditional dialysis, focusing on early intervention, care coordination, and patient education that accompany individuals through every stage of kidney disease. These changes bring opportunity and complexity. New care models, partnerships, and treatment pathways require tight collaboration among clinical, operational, compliance, and legal teams.
At DaVita, one of the world’s leading kidney care providers, Holly Sterrett plays a central role in this transformation. As Vice President and Associate General Counsel, she leads the Commercial Litigation team and works across the company to manage risk, resolve disputes, and empower leaders to make choices that benefit patients.
Although Holly works behind the scenes, her influence extends across DaVita. As healthcare delivery changes, her role shows how legal leaders are now part of the conversations that drive organizational change and advance patient-centered strategies.
Finding purpose
Holly didn’t plan on a career in healthcare law. Instead, she found her path at DaVita through a connection that grew during her time in private practice. “What drew me to DaVita was the organization itself. While I was in private practice at Arnold & Porter, I had the opportunity to work with DaVita as outside counsel and saw firsthand the strength of its culture, the caliber of its people, and the passion behind its mission. Nearly nine years later, it’s still the people and purpose that keep me here,” she recalls.
For Holly, connecting legal work to patient outcomes gives her role real purpose. Living with kidney disease often means navigating ongoing treatment, complex coordination, and support that extends beyond clinical care. Even though she works out of the spotlight, Holly sees a clear link between legal strategy and patient well-being. “Kidney disease impacts every aspect of a person’s life, and dialysis is life-sustaining care. While my work happens behind the scenes, I am proud to support an organization that serves hundreds of thousands of patients and their families. Knowing that the work my team does helps protect and strengthen that mission is incredibly meaningful,” she reflects.
That same commitment shapes DaVita’s culture, where collaboration is at the heart of everything. Holly highlights the company’s approach: “At DaVita, we call our employees teammates because we believe great outcomes happen when people work together in service of a common purpose. I have the privilege of working alongside smart, compassionate, and deeply committed teammates every day, and that makes all the difference.”
Supporting change
As providers expand their focus beyond treatment itself, the challenge shifts from a single clinical intervention to coordinating an entire care ecosystem. That complexity often remains invisible to people outside the sector.
“Many people don’t realize how significant kidney disease is as a public health issue or how much coordination is necessary to support patients living with it. I think there’s a misconception that dialysis is the entire story. In reality, kidney care includes education, care coordination, transplantation support and helping patients make informed decisions about the treatment path that’s right for them,” she observes.
Working toward integrated care creates new factors for healthcare organizations. Alongside clinical considerations come regulatory obligations, contractual relationships, and evolving business models that require legal guidance from the outset.
For Holly, legal support works best when it helps create practical solutions rather than simply identifying constraints. She puts it simply: “All healthcare organizations navigate a complex regulatory environment, and it’s important to remember that regulations ultimately exist to help protect patients and promote quality care.” The legal team’s role is to help the organization find practical paths forward that support both compliance and patient needs. She adds, “We work across many teams to understand the realities they each face and provide guidance that is grounded in both legal requirements and the patient experience.”
The move toward integrated kidney care is expanding the scope of decisions requiring legal input, from partnerships and technology initiatives to programs that support patients throughout their care journey.
Inside DaVita, Holly’s team works to remove barriers before they become obstacles. “My team’s role is to help remove obstacles and manage risk so our clinical and operational leaders can stay focused on caring for patients. We help navigate complex legal issues, resolve disputes, and provide guidance that enables the organization to move forward with confidence,” she notes.
Holly measures the value of legal work by the stability and alignment it brings to the organization, not just by the disputes it settles. She reflects: “While I don’t provide direct patient care, I view our work as part of a larger ecosystem that supports patients. When legal, compliance, operational, and clinical teams work well together, we create a stronger organization that is better positioned to deliver exceptional care.”
Leading together
The shift to integrated care demands greater collaboration across all disciplines. Holly sees how a wide range of perspectives contribute to a single, patient-centered mission. “One of DaVita’s strengths is the way different teams work together around a shared mission. No single department can deliver a great patient experience on its own. Clinical, operational, compliance, and legal teams all bring different expertise, but we’re aligned around supporting patients and helping ensure the organization operates responsibly and effectively,” she remarks.
Trust, accountability, and shared ownership matter just as much as legal skill. “For me, a great leader leads by example and won’t ask her team to do anything she wouldn’t do herself. A great leader motivates and speaks about the mission and values in a way that inspires others. She fosters belonging and connection, knowing that a strong, trusting team is vital for success. A great leader keeps the team growing and thriving, stays collaborative and open to ideas from anyone, and always shows compassion, recognizing that life sometimes goes off script,” she highlights.
One piece of advice still shapes Holly’s career and the way she mentors others. “Early in my career, one of the hardest but best lessons I learned was, ‘do not say no.’ While that’s not always possible, it sets the expectation that you’ll take advantage of opportunities whenever you can. You never know what might lead to your next chapter or greatest achievement,” she reflects.
As DaVita continues to support patients throughout the kidney disease journey, Holly sees coordination, communication, and partnerships becoming increasingly important. Healthcare delivery is becoming more connected, and organizations are increasingly expected to support patients across multiple settings and stages of care.
As kidney care grows more connected, legal teams evolve right alongside it. Their work now goes far beyond managing disputes or interpreting regulations. Today, legal supports innovation, helps organizations balance competing priorities, and guides decisions that shape patient experiences. For Holly, this reality defines what she seeks in future legal leaders.
“The qualities I value in a young lawyer are broad and varied. While I appreciate attorneys who are smart and analytical, a true legal leader shows much more: willingness to take on new challenges, compassion for patients, clients, and teammates, the ability to see the big picture and think three steps ahead, creativity to navigate gray areas, drive, a collaborative spirit, strong relationship-building skills, and the willingness to go the extra mile,” she concludes.
In healthcare, legal decisions rarely exist in isolation. They sit alongside clinical, operational, and patient considerations, needing leaders who can navigate complexity without losing sight of the people at the center of the system.
Holly is wonderful to work with. She’s intelligent and tenacious while bringing sound judgment to every decision. Those qualities have earned her the trust of colleagues and outside counsel alike. I love to introduce new associates and members of my team to her because she sets a powerful example of what legal leadership should look like.
We at Dinsmore look forward to many more years of collaboration.
Grahmn Morgan, Chair of Litigation Department, Dinsmore & Shohl LLP
