I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Dialysis Discussion => Dialysis: News Articles => Topic started by: okarol on January 22, 2011, 08:20:42 AM
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Hospital Transplant Division to Close
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Shands Jacksonville transplant candidate fears the cost of center's closure could be her life.
Shands confirmed to First Coast News Thursday that it is voluntarily inactivating it's Division of Transplant Surgery, a program that performs kidney transplants.
The hospital has sent letters to transplant candidates on waiting lists and several organ donation agencies, according to the hospital.
112 "status 1" kidney transplant candidates are immediately affected, according to Shands.
One of those, Tammy Patterson, said her kidney disease complications may make it difficult to be accepted as a transplant candidate somewhere else.
She first found out her life would be filled with dialysis and new kidneys in 1989, on her first anniversary, after getting sick at dinner.
"You have a rare disease," her husband Hugh Patterson recited. "We don't know much about it. It will require you have a transplant. You probably have about eight to ten years to live. You'll never be able to conceive children. Do you have any questions?"
They believe the disease came from a blood transfusion Tammy Patterson received as a baby.
Her first kidney transplant was from a brother. The second, from a friend.
"I don't really know how to put it into words when you are given such a gift," Tammy said.
The third gift will come from a stranger. It was supposed to happen at Shands Jacksonville.
"We moved back to Jacksonville specifically to come back to this center, this group of doctors," Hugh explained. "Because they're the ones who did her transplant in '97."
While at dialysis Thursday, Tammy was told she'll have to go somewhere else for the transplant. Her first reaction was panic.
Although Shands did not provide a total number of candidates the closure will affect, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network lists 230 kidney transplant candidates at Shands.
There are 599 candidates listed at Mayo Clinic and 3,213 in Florida.
Shands said candidates on their waiting list will be assisted in moving to other centers.
But because Tammy has several conditions that can be problematic for transplant patients, the Pattersons fear they may not be accepted anywhere else.
They've already beaten the odds. It's been 21 years, not ten. And their two boys, now in high school, have made the family complete.
But Tammy has been waiting for her new kidney since 2005 and is on her last vein. She says the transplant is her only hope.
"If we can't get her approved somewhere else, that's it," Hugh said, fighting back tears.
Even if Tammy is approved as a candidate at another transplant center, there will be setbacks.
"We could have had a transplant tonight at Shands if a donor became available," Hugh said. Now with Shands closing we'll have to restart with a new center."
Shands performed 32 kidney transplants last year, according to the hospital.
The hospital is now reassessing the program because of the low numbers and will have up to a year to decide whether they will close the program permanently.
Eleven jobs within the department could be affected, although Shands hopes to relocate the employees within the hospital if needed.
Post-transplant patients will continue to receive care, according to Shands.
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=187912&catid=3