News & Press

Often, patients whose body mass index, or BMI, is too high aren’t able to get a kidney transplant because of the higher risks of complications before and during surgery. But an innovative program at Mayo Clinic is giving patients hope by helping to break that barrier to transplant through a weight loss program.

Over 100,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for an organ transplant. If you’ve never considered organ donation or delayed becoming a donor because of possibly inaccurate information, here are answers to some common organ donation myths and concerns.

More than 12,000 people in the U.S. are on the national waiting list to receive a donor liver and about 1 in 5 patients, approximately 2,500 people, will die or become too sick before an organ becomes available. The Mayo Clinic explains living liver donation and who is eligible.

Jean Adams is always on the move: packing gear, checking maps and plotting her next hike. At the end of 2022, the 59-year-old retiree set the goal of hiking the entire Ice Age Trail in 2023 to show what a kidney donor can accomplish.

Over the course of his 21-year surgical career, transplant surgeon Srinath Chinnakotla, MD, who also serves as a surgical director for both our liver transplant program and pediatric abdominal transplant team, has performed over 1,600 life-changing transplant surgeries, with a special focus on pediatric transplantation.

Through a paired organ exchange and the latest matching technology, Gavin Dahms received a kidney transplant exactly 17 years to the day after his first at M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital.

Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jersey’s largest and most comprehensive health network, today announced that three of its hospitals have been recognized by Healthgrades as 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ recipients, more than any New Jersey hospital network.