Lee Health announced the health system has worked with Tampa General Hospital to redefine kidney transplant care in the community while expanding the scope of services available to patients.
On Dec. 3, the Tampa General Hospital Advanced Organ Disease and Transplantation Institute at Lee Health opened in the clinic space at Gulf Coast Medical Center which was previously occupied by Lee Health’s Kidney Transplant Institute.
This change means patients will immediately have access to a variety of transplant services, including live donor transplants, paired donor transplants, deceased kidney transplants and simultaneous multi-organ transplants, such as kidney and pancreas.
Patients who are on the Lee Health transplant waitlist have the option to transfer their wait time to Tampa General Hospital, or any other Medicare-approved transplant center, without loss of accrued waiting time. When a kidney becomes available, patients will travel to Tampa or a transplant center of their choice for their surgery. After a post-surgery recuperation period, they can return to their local nephrologist.
Current transplant nephrologists, Dr. Gautham Mogilishetty and Dr. Shalini Saith, will remain at Gulf Coast Medical Center clinic as part of Tampa General’s program to provide pre- and post-operative nephrology care.
