Kidney & Kidney/Pancreas Transplant Programs

Appointments available

If you are a new patient or would like to learn more about UK HealthCare Transplant Center services, please call us toll-free at 866-285-4337.

Current patients

If you are a patient and need to reach a member of your transplant team, please contact us at:

Kidney and pancreas transplant team

Toll-free: 866-474-6544   
Local: 859-323-6544

Living donor kidney transplant team

Local: 859-323-2467

Dialysis access  

Living donor kidney transplantation  

Most patients with irreversible kidney failure are potential candidates for kidney transplant. Overall health and well-being are important. For example, you must have stable heart and lung function in order to safely withstand the surgical procedure. Your medical history, including previous transplants, smoking, alcohol or drug abuse, and ability to follow medical advice will also affect your possibility for transplant. All of these factors are considered for each patient separately, to ensure that the best decision is made for that individual.

Since transplant requires a lifelong commitment to taking medication and to having regular physician contact, patients also must understand this responsibility. There is no absolute age or obesity cut-off. Each patient is evaluated individually by several members of the transplant team and their case is discussed in a committee to determine their eligibility.

Kidney transplants can come from two sources: a living donor or a deceased donor. Living donor transplants offer recipients better long-term survival rates and shorter wait times compared to kidneys donated from a deceased donor and allow patients faster receipt of a new kidney without the average four to six year wait. Today medical providers are even able to transplant kidneys from unrelated living donors (like a spouse or friend) with success similar to kidneys donated from a blood relative. New medications make it possible to donate without a family link to the recipient but the donor and recipient must have compatible blood types.

Anyone who is generally healthy and has normal kidney function can donate. Donors will live healthy lives with just one kidney because the remaining organ enlarges to compensate for the donated organ. Living donor kidneys have a lower rejection rate than deceased donors and start to function more quickly as well.

Learn more about the living kidney donor program »

Kidney transplant education

• Pre-Op Kidney Transplant Patient Guide 2021 (PDF, 5.8 MB)
• Post-Op Kidney Transplant Patient Guide 2021 (PDF, 2.7 MB)
• Guía Preoperatoria de Trasplante Renal (Spanish-PDF, 407 KB)

The purpose of this guide is to provide you and your family with a better understanding of the transplant process. The information in this book also will help you understand what questions to ask and to whom to ask those questions. We hope that by carefully reading through this book, you will be better prepared for your situation. 

• Living Donor Champion Packet (PDF, 154 KB)
• Frequently Asked Questions about Multiple Listing and Waiting Time Transfer (PDF, 362 KB)
• Questions and Answers for Transplant Candidates about Kidney Allocation (PDF, 129 KB)

Helpful links

For additional information about transplant, visit the Web sites listed below. These sites are reputable organizations that offer reliable information.

• National Kidney and Urologic Disease Clearinghouse 
• National Kidney Foundation 
• Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA)
• Trust for Life 
• National Pancreas Foundation 
• United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)
• Transplant Living
• Donate Life America

With recent concerns surrounding COVID-19 and limiting public gatherings, the kidney transplant support group is closed to in-person meetings. There will be a phone conference for those interested. Email Jacqueline Thomas for information.

Conrad Webster knew his time was almost up. A double transplant changed that.

Louisville man receives heart, kidney transplants at UK HealthCare

He pushed through a failing heart for a decade, determined to avoid undergoing a transplant. But in the past year, 49-year-old Conrad Webster knew his time was almost up. Read Conrad's story »

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