Kemethia Sylvester Continues to Grow with Fresenius Kidney Care
When Kemethia Sylvester started as a patient care technician with Fresenius Kidney Care in 2012, she didn’t imagine that a decade later she’d be with the same company. She has continued to advance, first in a role as an administrative assistant, and now as an insurance coordinator. “I’m beyond happy,” Sylvester says with her career progression.
Starting with Patients
Sylvester began working at a Fresenius Kidney Care center in Natchez, Mississippi, her home state. She felt connected to dialysis patients since her own grandmother required dialysis. While working as a patient care technician, she regularly interacted with patients, connecting them to their dialysis machines and taking vitals. “I love helping people,” Sylvester says. “I have a passion at heart to help everybody.”
Making Moves
After a year and a half working as a patient care technician, Sylvester decided to move from her home in Mississippi to Savannah, Georgia. She began working on her bachelor's degree and started a new job in a car dealership. Then fate intervened. One day a customer came into her car dealership with a shirt bearing the Fresenius Kidney Care name and logo.
Sylvester recalls, “I said to him, ‘I used to work at a Fresenius Kidney Care,’ and he replied, ‘Do you want a job?’”
It turned out his dialysis center was actively recruiting a new administrative assistant. Kemethia applied for the job and was hired. She continued to pursue her bachelor's degree in biology health science and eventually took advantage of Fresenius Kidney Care’s tuition reimbursement program to help pay for some of her classes.
“It’s a very good program,” Sylvester says. “I tell everybody this is one company you can definitely grow with.”
A New Opportunity
Sylvester worked as an administrative assistant in Savannah for five and a half years before hearing about a possible career opportunity as an insurance coordinator. Once again, she applied for the position and received an offer. She began her new role in April 2021.
Sylvester has taken to her new position: “They said it would take six months to a year to learn my new job duties, but I told myself it would be three to five months — and I was right.”
As an insurance coordinator, she regularly calls and checks in with dialysis patients across 14 dialysis centers in the Savannah area. Patients can also call her when they have questions regarding their insurance needs. She’ll often consult with patients and government entities to coordinate resources that may available.
Sylvester also works with other members of the care team to make sure each patient is getting the services they need. She recalls several patients who have needed assistance with housing, and she was able to alert their social workers to the issue.
Sticking with Fresenius Kidney Care
Sylvester is also a mother of two, Antonio, 18, and Khloe, 3. As a working mother, she enjoys the flexibility she has at her job. In the future, she may use tuition reimbursement again to attain a master’s degree in social work, as she finds helping patients incredibly rewarding. With that degree, she hopes to join our team of social workers who help patients through one-on-one conversations, referrals to peer groups, helping remove transportation barriers, and more.
“I just love what I do,” she says. “I love people.”
