Anyone who has found themselves (or a loved one) thrown into the circumstance of needing a kidney transplant quickly learns how life-changing it is. From daily dialysis to discovering the waitlist process, one can’t help but long for the day that life goes back to “normal.”

That wish could become a reality for more residents of Asheville with the recent launch of Prisma Health’s organ transplant program, focusing especially on kidney transplants.

The Prisma Health Transplant Center, located in Greenville, grew out of a need to provide high quality care to transplant candidates while decreasing the travel burden + increasing the chance of finding a donor sooner.

Here’s why the transplant program is needed in Upstate, by the numbers:

1. The number of transplant centers within 100 miles of Greenville as a result of Prisma Health launching their program.
116,357. The number of people in the US waiting for an organ transplant as of June 2022 (with 97,227 waiting for a kidney).
30%. The percentage of people who traveled out of state to receive transplant care in 2017.
410. The number of transplants conducted in SC in 2021 (up 27% from the prior year).
45. The combined number of years of experience that transplant physicians have to offer patients.

And because it takes a village to get a kidney transplant, Prisma Health’s multi-disciplinary transplant team is comprised of a number of medical professionals, including:

Surgeons
Nephrologists
Nurse coordinators
Social workers
Dietitians
Pharmacists
Financial counselors

If you are in need of a kidney transplant (or are interested in becoming a living donor), learn more below about the specialized kidney transplant care Prisma Health provides.

Question

Do you or does someone you know need a kidney transplant? Let us know.*