At a Manhattan news conference on August 17, 2005, the New York Organ Donor Network announced the introduction of its Living Donor Kidney Exchange Program that is designed to increase the number of people whose lives are enhanced and extended through kidney transplantation. 

Family members or friends often offer to donate a kidney to patients. However, up to thirty five percent of the time they are excluded because of biological incompatibility.  Under the kidney exchange program, individuals who are unable to donate a kidney to their intended recipients due to incompatibility are exchanged to form compatible pairs.  The transplants are performed simultaneously

In order to proceed with this program, the Donor Network is partnering with kidney transplant centers in the New York metro area, five of which have signed on to the program.  They are: The Mount Sinai Medical Center, The Rogosin Institute-New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center, Montefiore Medical Center, New York University Medical Center and SUNY Downstate Medical Center .

To find out more about this groundbreaking program, click on the following links:

Press Release: New York Organ Donor Network's Living Donor Kidney Exchange Program is Launched

GRAPHIC: How the Living Donor Kidney Exchange Program Works

Living Donor Kidney Exchange Program Fact Sheet  (PDF file)

Living Donor Kidney Exchange Program Transplant Centers

Kidney Donation and Transplantation Data

Living Donor Kidney Exchange Program: Download Brochure  (PDF file)

Contact Information

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