View Larger Image File photo; UAMS employees look through a report on the kidney transplant program.
A report on the kidney transplant program is reviewed.

UAMS Kidney, Liver Transplant Programs Again Ranked Among Best in Nation

By Linda Satter

| The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients has again ranked the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ (UAMS) kidney and liver transplant programs among the top in the nation.

For the second year in a row, the registry gave the UAMS kidney transplant program five bars – the highest ranking possible – in two categories: the speed of obtaining donor kidneys and patient survivability one year after transplant.

Only a handful of transplant centers across the country hold five bars in both categories.

Among national kidney programs with five-tier rankings, the recently released report reveals that UAMS placed fourth when it comes to speed in obtaining transplants and sixth in the category of patient survivability after one year.

UAMS’ liver transplant program scored three bars for the speed of obtaining a transplant and four bars for survival of patients one year after the transplant.

Nationwide, there are 256 kidney transplant programs and 147 liver transplant programs.

UAMS’ kidney transplant program has been operating since 1964, and its liver transplant program began in 2005. They are the only adult kidney and liver transplant programs in Arkansas.

“Once again, having these accomplishments recognized nationally is a great way to start the new year,” said UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA. “I commend our kidney and liver transplant teams for their exceptional work.”

Each program-specific report is available at www.srtr.org.

The reports provide information about transplant candidates on waiting lists, how quickly they moved up the waiting list, transplant recipients, donors and post-transplant outcomes. They document organ function and survivability one year after transplant, and compare those results to the expected outcomes. They then compare each program’s overall score against the national average.

UAMS mails the reports to every patient in its transplant programs every six months.

The SRTR publicly releases the data every January and July at the directive of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.

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