Sanford Transplant Center

In 1988, Sanford Health became the first healthcare center in North Dakota to perform kidney transplants, and today, patients from our area continue to receive this innovative treatment close to home. A patient undergoing a successful kidney transplant can lead a normal, independent life without having to undergo kidney dialysis three times a week. It's a new lease on life.

Before Sanford Health began performing kidney transplants, the nearest transplant center was in Minneapolis. Patients no longer have to travel more than 400 miles for this life-saving procedure. Since its first kidney transplant procedure, more than 350 patients have benefited from kidney transplants performed at Sanford Health, which remains the only healthcare facility in our area to perform kidney transplants.

Transplant care involves a team approach at the Sanford Transplant Center. This approach begins with the pre-operative evaluation, the actual transplant care and post-transplant follow-up.

A big factor in this achievement is our team approach. The team includes:

• Transplant surgeon
• Board-certified nephrologists—physicians specializing in the care of patients with kidney disease
• Certified transplant nephrologists
• Histocompatibility specialists—lab professionals who test patients for compatibility with prospective donors
• Transplant coordinators
• Pharmacists
• Social workers
• Dietitians
• Nurses skilled in the special care of post-transplant patients

By providing top-notch transplant care from start to finish, this life-saving procedure is an amazing process for everyone involved. The two types of kidney transplants performed are living donor and deceased donor. Both types of transplants are performed at the Sanford Transplant Center.

• Living donor refers to a kidney that comes from a living person, usually a relative or a spouse.
• Deceased donor refers to a kidney that is donated by an individual at the time of death. The individual's family gives consent for the donation of the kidney.

Candidates for kidney transplantation have chronic, irreversible end-stage kidney disease. Kidney disease is a catch-all term that includes diseases ranging from urinary tract infections, to kidney stones, to more serious disorders such as polycystic kidney disease and glomerulonephritis. If any kidney disease is left untreated, possible kidney failure may result. Often, dialysis or transplantation is needed for survival.

The Sanford Transplant Center is certified by both the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) and Medicare. The center also cooperates with LifeSource (Regional Organ Procurement Organization) and UNOS to help qualified recipients to receive organs. UNOS is a national agency responsible for maintaining the national waiting list for organ recipients.

The Sanford Transplant Center offices are located in the basement of the Sanford Seventh and Thayer Clinic in Bismarck. Visitors should park in parking lot K and use the southeast entrance to the building.

Doctors

	Nadim Koleilat, MD Transplant surgery
	Jacques Youssef, MD Transplant nephrology

Recommended links

Links to other websites
Links to websites outside Sanford Health are provided for convenience and information only, and Sanford Health assumes no responsibility for their content. Sanford Health is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites. You should always read the privacy policy at a website before revealing any personal information.

Transplant Living
http://www.transplantliving.org

Transplant Experience
http://www.transplantexperience.com

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network
http://www.optn.org

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