For patients with end-stage kidney or liver disease, the wait for a donated organ can be a matter of life and death. UVA Health has been working to change that through its living donor program, making the case that a generous stranger or a willing family member could be the difference.
Living organ donation allows a healthy person to donate a kidney or part of their liver while still alive. About 85% of people on organ waiting lists need a kidney, and more than 8,000 Americans are currently awaiting a liver transplant. Because organs from deceased donors are limited, many patients may die before a life-saving organ becomes available. Living donation offers another path.
“The most significant limitation on our ability to help patients is the number of donated organs available for transplant,” said Shawn J. Pelletier, M.D., director of the transplant service line and chief of the Division of Transplant Surgery at UVA Health. “Our Living Donor First program is designed to consistently share with every patient and family the hope and possibility that living donation can provide, which can include shorter wait times and longer-lasting donated organs.”
How living donation works
In a living kidney donation, the donor gives one kidney to a recipient and continues to live a healthy life with the remaining one. In a living liver donation, the donor gives a portion of their liver, which grows back over time.
For donors, UVA Health uses minimally invasive techniques, including laparoscopic and robot-assisted surgery, resulting in smaller incisions and shorter recovery times.
A partnership bringing transplant care closer to home
Expanding access to transplant care across Virginia requires more than a single center. It also requires trusted local partners. UVA Health and Riverside Health have expanded their strategic alliance to include liver transplant services for patients in Hampton Roads and Eastern Virginia, building on a collaboration that began in 2023.
Through the partnership, patients continue getting liver health care through Riverside, while those who need a liver transplant gain streamlined access to UVA Health's transplant program. A dedicated UVA Health transplant navigator guides patients through each step of the process, from initial consultation through surgery and post-transplant follow-up at UVA Health University Medical Center in Charlottesville.
“For patients and their families facing an advanced liver disease diagnosis, having well-coordinated, specialized care close to home is critical,” said Mitchell Rosner, M.D., chief executive officer at UVA Health. “This growing affiliation with Riverside Health is enabling much more of this specialized care to meet patients where they are in eastern Virginia.”
The strength of Virginia's only comprehensive transplant center
UVA Health’s living donor program is part of the only comprehensive transplant center in Virginia. UVA Health has performed more than 7,000 transplants over more than 50 years across various programs. Boasting the largest transplant outreach network in Virginia, it’s outreach allows patients to receive pre- and post-transplant care close to home.
That transplant expertise is one part of a broader health system that includes Virginia’s first NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, the No. 1 ranked children's hospital in Virginia and the newly established Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology.
