Transplant First Initiative

BC Transplant, Providence Health Care, BC Renal Agency and the Kidney Foundation of BC

A successful kidney transplant from a live donor can as much as triple a patient’s life expectancy, especially for those with advanced stages of kidney disease; however, conversations to invite people to become kidney donors can often pose a challenge. That’s where the Transplant First initiative comes in. The first of its kind in Canada, the collaboration among BC Renal Agency’s Kidney Care Centre Committee, BC Transplant, the Kidney Foundation of BC and BC health authorities worked to inform staff and patients at the 13 Kidney Care Clinics across BC of the advantages and safety of living donation and provided tools to assist in finding willing donors.

Since its launch, conversations with prospective recipients about living donation have increased more than threefold, and the number of referrals initiated for transplant and the number of living donor referrals have also increased by 13 and 19 per cent respectively. The initiative has received national attention, inspiring other provinces to adopt similar programs.

For improving the quality of life and health outcomes for patients with advanced kidney disease through increased access to living donor transplants we award the Collaborative Solutions Award of Merit to Providence Health Care, BC Transplant, BC Renal Agency and the Kidney Foundation of BC.

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