Former head of Total Renal Care dies at 72

Victor Chaltiel, a former chairman of Total Renal Care, died of cancer on Aug. 25 in Las Vegas. He was 72.

Chaltiel began his career in the renal field with Baxter Healthcare, working there for 18 years and helping the company grow its business in peritoneal dialysis. He held numerous corporate and divisional management positions, including chairman of Baxter’s Artificial Organs (Dialysis) Division; vice president of its International Division; area managing director for Europe and president of its French operations. During his tenure with Baxter, Chaltiel was instrumental in the successful development and worldwide commercialization of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). He then served as President, Chief Operating Officer and a Director of Salick Health Care, Inc., a publicly-held company focusing on the development of outpatient cancer and dialysis treatment centers, from 1985-88. For more than five years (1989-1994), he was Chairman and CEO of Total Pharmaceutical Care, a provider of home healthcare and infusion therapy services. which was later acquired by Zeneca, before becoming chairman and CEO of Total Renal Care in August 1994.

He didn’t last long; he announced on July 18, 1999 that he was stepping down for “compelling personal reasons,” after two straight quarters of lower than expected earnings. CFO John King resigned soon thereafter.

In February of that year, TRC's stock price collapsed and a number of class action suits were filed when "TRC's troubled integration, diminished profitability, and inadequate financial statement disclosures were revealed," according to plaintiff's lawsuits. Three days before Chaltiel resigned in July, TRC stock lost over 5% of its value and closed at 12 7/8. Orders to sell TRC stock flooded the market Monday morning (July 19) and trading on TRC stock was delayed for about an hour. The stock opened $4.37 lower at 8 1/2 (33% decline from Friday's closing). After being higher most of the day, the stock closed at 8 5/8 on Monday (source: RenalWEB archives).

Chaltiel was replaced by fellow Harvard MBA grad Kent J. Thiry on Oct. 18 of that year. Thiry took over the second largest worldwide provider of dialysis services and, with employees’ help, renamed it DaVita. The company owned and operated 522 outpatient clinics and peritoneal dialysis programs in 34 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, Argentina and Europe, and also provided acute hemodialysis services to inpatients at approximately 290 hospitals.

Mayoral run
After leaving the renal field, Chaltiel developed several businesses. He was the founder and chairman of Redhills Ventures, a private investment firm focusing in technology start-ups. He was also the founder and chairman of Health Data Insights Inc., a Las Vegas based company specializing in reducing health care costs. In 2011 at age 69, he ran for mayor of Las Vegas. He finished fourth in the primary that had 18 candidates.

Chaltiel is survived by his wife, Toni, and their three children, Oscar, Maxime and Sarah.