WashU Nephrology Fellow, 2000-2003
As Associate Chief Medical Officer of U.S. Renal Care, Gopa Green, MD, has a broad perspective on how best to deliver quality nephrology care across the United States. But it was a personal moment that pushed Dr. Green to think more globally about the challenges of offering such care during disasters.
“We lost our home in 2017 during the Tubbs Fire in Sonoma County in California while I was still in private practice and serving as a medical director at a regional dialysis center for Satellite Healthcare,” she recalls. “It changed my perspective on my role in my community and in the world. I have spoken about my experiences in leading through disasters and I am
passionate about working with the nephrology community — including patients, physicians, practices, and community resources — to engage in emergency preparedness.”
After completing her Internal Medicine and Nephrology Fellowship training at Washington University, Dr. Green joined a busy private practice, Nephrology Associates in Santa Rosa, California. She was a partner and leader in this practice for more than 16 years, working closely with Satellite Healthcare as a Medical Director and advising in Medical-Clinical Affairs prior to joining Satellite Healthcare full-time in 2021. Satellite Healthcare is a mid-size nonprofit dialysis provider that serves more than 8000 patients. She served as Chief Medical Officer of In-Center Dialysis Services and Clinical Programs for Satellite Healthcare for the past one and a half years before joining U.S. Renal Care in January 2024. Today, she collaboratively oversees quality and medical affairs for both U.S. Renal Care and Satellite Healthcare as
part of the Chief Medical Office. This role gives her the opportunity to work with a broad cross-functional team to enhance quality of care for the nearly 40,000 patients that are served by both organizations.
Dr. Green is passionate about care quality and patient safety. “I help to develop quality
strategy with data analytics, clinical services, and operations teams,” she says. “Currently,
I am providing medical leadership for a company-wide initiative to reduce reliance on central venous catheters for hemodialysis, the end result of which we expect will make a positive impact on patients’ quality of life, morbidity and mortality, as well as provide value for the healthcare industry.”
She also oversees a high acuity patient admissions program which has shown favorable results in keeping patients in their communities and substantially reducing days spent in the hospital. “Satellite Healthcare has centers with the capability to dialyze patients in a bed rather than a standard dialysis chair or to accommodate patients who require continuous intravenous medications or have an external wearable defibrillator or a left-ventricular assist device,” she explains. “Without this program, these patients would likely be unable to leave an acute hospital setting. By supporting patients with these conditions at outpatient dialysis centers, we demonstrated that they enjoy 94% of their survival days out of the hospital.”
Dr. Green recalls her most memorable moments at WashU occurred while rounding on busy clinical services with world-class attendings and colleagues. “Dr. Daniel Coyne, our fellowship program director and my clinic attending, shared his expertise in groundbreaking and innovative therapies coupled with his dry sense of humor to make those rounds memorable,” she laughs. “Dr. Daniel Brennan remains a world-renowned transplant nephrologist and his energy and laughter were infectious. Dr. Anitha Vijayan’s impactful teaching on acute kidney injury, glomerular disease and many other facets of renal care made her a critical part of my own learning experience.”
She and her husband, Douglas Green, MD, a vascular surgeon at Kaiser Santa Rosa Medical Center, have been married 25 years. They met at Harvard Medical School. Their daughter, Julia, was born in St. Louis during Dr. Green’s last year of fellowship. Now a junior at NYU, Julia recently accompanied Dr. Green to 2023 ASN Kidney Week. “I had the opportunity to introduce her to Dr. Coyne, Dr. Brennan, Dr. Brent Miller, and my lab mentor, Dr. Andrey Shaw, along with several of my co-residents and fellows who now serve in leadership roles at WashU, including Dr. TingTing Li and Dr. Seth Goldberg. It was wonderful for my daughter to hear our fellowship
stories and experience the gratitude that I shared with my teachers.”
