‘Renown Health’ Transplant Institute Completes Five Living Donor Kidney Transplants, Easing Strain For 100,000 Waiting

New Transplant Center Performs Five Living Donor kidney Transplants Since Opening

USA: Renown Health’s Renown Transplant Institute in Reno says it has completed five living donor kidney transplants since opening in 2024, a milestone officials describe as an early boost to local access for patients who otherwise face long waits. More than 100,000 people nationwide remain on the organ transplant waiting list, and living donation can shorten or eliminate those waiting times for kidney recipients.

Patients from northern Nevada previously traveled to centers such as UC Davis for transplantation because a full-service program was not available locally. The new Renown Transplant Institute aims to keep care closer to home, reducing travel burdens and enabling faster evaluation and follow-up for both donors and recipients.

The program’s initial cases underscore the practical impact of living donor transplantation: when a healthy person donates a kidney, it can immediately free a recipient from dialysis and improve long-term outcomes. Renown officials say the transplants required coordinated work by surgical teams, transplant nephrologists, and living-donor support services to evaluate candidates and manage perioperative care.

Hospital leaders and patient advocates say the early success is a foundation to grow kidney and other organ transplant services in the region. Increasing living donation, strengthening donor evaluation and post-operative support, and building community awareness are cited as priorities to help more Nevadans move off the national waiting list.

Video originally published on 2026-05-08 22:16:22