Kidney Transplant Center
Dedicated to serving the community, the physicians at the St. Joseph Hospital Kidney Transplant Center believe all patients with chronic kidney disease are entitled to an evaluation for transplant candidacy. Whether you’re referred by a physician, a dialysis center, or if you’ve referred yourself, each patient who enters our transplant center will be evaluated individually and holistically.
With programs for sensitized patients and those who are ABO blood type incompatible with their donors, the St. Joseph Hospital Kidney Transplant Center has a history of tackling surgical and medical challenges, including accepting patients who have been turned down by other centers.
Our transplant success and patient survival rates are among the highest in the nation, a true testament to the expertise of our skilled surgeons and staff.
Candidates for kidney transplantation either suffer from chronic kidney disease or are approaching dependence on renal replacement therapy (dialysis). It is important to evaluate a patient's overall health and risk factors to help ensure transplant success.
Kidney transplantation is usually not recommended for patients who have the following conditions:
- Active cancer, ongoing serious infection or active gastric ulcer disease
- Severe, non-correctable heart or peripheral vascular disease
- Current drug or alcohol abuse
- Immune deficiency disease
- Psychosocial conditions or situations that interfere with post-transplant care or medication management
Transplant candidates have two options for obtaining a new kidney: deceased or living donors. Most transplanted kidneys come from deceased donors. However, there are currently more people on the waiting list than there are available deceased donors. Living donation is a solution to this shortage, as transplant candidates may have willing living donors and not even know it.
When selecting a hospital for kidney transplantation, it's important to make an informed decision. Look closely at the qualifications and performance of the hospital's program and be sure to ask the right questions.
The program should have favorable outcomes data, such as the results reported by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR). And the program should be in good standing with The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), The Department of Health Services (DHS) and The United Network For Organ Sharing (UNOS). You should also ask if the program has received any corrective or disqualifying action from these organizations.
Surgeons at the Kidney Transplant Center work closely with the transplant patient's referring nephrologist. Following transplantation, care of the patient is in collaboration with the referring nephrologist.
Referring nephrologist play an important role in helping achieve the best possible transplant outcomes. The referring nephrologist's role in transplant patient management includes:
- Early referral for transplant candidacy evaluation (ideally before dialysis)
- Communication of changes in the patient's condition that may affect maintenance of candidacy
- Post-transplant evaluation and management of:
- Hypertension
- Cardiac risk
- Hyperlipidemia
- Bone health
- Post-transplant diabetes
- Age-related malignancies
- Communication of any:
- Transplant dysfunction
- Infection
- Transplant-related malignancy
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Recognition
U.S. News & World Report - High Performing Hospital in Kidney Failure (2024-25)