About Empowered Kidney Care

Dr. Richard Gibney's Story

EKC Founder Dr. Richard Gibney worked in the kidney care industry for over four decades, and in 2016 he won The American Association of Kidney Patients Medal of Excellence Award.

For most of his career, Dr. Gibney simply didn’t know that there were alternatives to the status quo. His dialysis units were all better than average, but he began to wonder… what if good enough simply isn’t good enough? He genuinely cared about all of his patients and staff, and he realized that the system was letting them all down.

In 2006, a partnership with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) inspired him to innovate. Years later, his eyes were further opened by a visit from two healthcare professionals from an acclaimed dialysis program in Jonkoping, Sweden.

In 2014, he led the successful transformation of 11 dialysis units in central Texas to an in-center self-care dialysis  model, serving over 500 patients with exceptional results. Staff and patients were extremely satisfied, and mortality and hospitalizations were cut in half.

In 2020, Dr. Gibney launched Empowered Kidney Care, helping patients and providers shift their focus "upstream" to successfully preserve kidney function for patients with CKD. The same year, he was named to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s Kidney Task Force and served on the Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) committee.

Dr. Gibney passed away at the age of 77 in 2024, leaving a legacy of innumerable family, friends, patients, and colleagues whose lives have been blessed for having known him.