VCU among nation’s most active kidney-transplant hospitals

By Malorie Burkett

The Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center was the 40th most active kidney-transplant center in the United States in 2005, according to Nephrology News and Issues – a medical publication on renal care.

VCU’s Hume-Lee Transplant program performed 116 kidney transplants in 2005, the most recent year for which figures are available, and is the only renal transplant program in the state of Virginia to make the list. There are 250 kidney transplant centers in the United States.

VCU was ranked 50 in 2004, when 100 kidney transplant surgeries were performed.
 
“Our goal is to transplant as many patients as we possibly can safely and successfully,” said Anne King, M.D., professor in the Department of Internal Medicine’s Division of Nephrology and medical director of the kidney/pancreas transplant program.

“The program is made up of an interdisciplinary team of surgeons, nephrologists, nurses, lab personnel and many other dedicated individuals who work together to provide the best care for our patients,” she said.

According to King, the increased volume in kidney transplant surgery is due in part to an increase in the number of pre-transplantation coordinators. In addition, the transplant program has a new outreach coordinator who is responsible for meeting with and discussing transplantation options with patients in the community. It also has added a living-donor coordinator, who provides potential donors with specific information about living-kidney donation.

King says VCU’s transplant program continues to focus on the option of living donors and preemptive transplantation – transplantation before dialysis — because patients tend to do better and have fewer interruptions in their lives.

VCU’s Hume-Lee Transplant Center performs more than 100 kidney transplants each year and has performed about 2,000 kidney transplants and 100 pancreas transplants for Type 1 diabetics. The center has been awarded a Center of Excellence recognition by CIGNA Healthcare, United Resources Network, WellPoint and Southern Health.
 
Nephrology News and Issues tabulated data from the United Network for Organ Sharing. The numbers include kidney and kidney/pancreas transplants. According to UNOS, there were more than 5,000 deceased donors and over 3,700 living donors reported by the transplant centers in 2005.