The Saint Barnabas Health Care System Renal
and Pancreas Transplant Centers at Newark Beth Israel Medical
Center and Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston
are leading this nation’s organ transplant programs
into new frontiers in kidney donation. The centers recently
added progressive Non-Directed Altruistic Living Donation
and Living Donor Kidney Exchange to their comprehensive
Living Donation Program.
“We are compelled to be creative
in pursuing new options for people who are waiting for
a renal transplant, as well as for those who want to make
a donation for the benefit of another,” says Debbie
Morgan, Director, Transplant Division, Saint Barnabas Health
Care System Renal and Pancreas Transplant Centers. Transplant
experts are turning to more innovative alternatives to
address the growing demand for organs. Traditional deceased
organ donation cannot meet the ever growing need. More
than 2,500 people are waiting for a kidney transplant in
the State of New Jersey alone and the list continues to
grow at a rapid pace.
The Saint Barnabas transplant team performed
its first two anonymous stranger-to-stranger transplants
in the latter half of 2004. Known as non-directed altruistic
donation, this transplant option is bringing selfless donors
together with people who are hoping for renewed life. Rana
Simunovich, 27 of Wayne, donated a kidney through the Non-Directed
Altruistic Living Donation Program. “Organ donation
are scary words, but not a scary process. It was a heartwarming
experience that feels good long after the donation is complete,” she
relates.
William Waldenmaier of Middletown also
donated his healthy kidney to a man he never met. “My
only wish was that it go to someone whose quality of life
would be improved,” he says. The recipient of Mr.
Waldenmaier’s precious organ was stunned that a stranger
would make such a sacrifice. “This transplant gives
me the longevity to see my children become men,” remarks
grateful recipient Christopher Perone of Metuchen.
 Shown
(left to right) are William Waldenmaier, kidney donor,
Shamkant Mulgaonkar, M.D. Chief, Saint Barnabas Health
Care System Renal Tansplant Centers, and Christopher
Perone, kidney recipient.
In addition to the superb Non-Directed
Altruistic Donor program is a growing Kidney Exchange Program
that is the first of its kind in New Jersey and one of
only a few in the country. It involves the matching and
exchange of kidneys between living donor and recipient
pairs who are compatible with each other. The Centers are
working to create a data base that manages the information
and expedites the matching process. “Naturally, the
larger the data base the greater chance people waiting
for a transplant have to find a suitable organ,” notes
Ms. Morgan. “We are collaborating with The Sharing
Network and all of the renal transplant centers in New
Jersey to develop a state-wide data base that will benefit
the greatest number of people possible.”
Like all of its transplant programs, the
centerpiece of the Altruistic Donation and the Living Donor
Kidney Exchange programs is education for both the recipient
and the donor. “Our team has spent over a year developing
each of these approaches,” stresses Ms. Morgan. It
was a thorough process that involved in-depth examination
of delicate humanitarian, legal and ethical issues. “Our
emphasis is on the integrity of each donation and ensuring
that the health and rights of both recipients and donors
are protected.”
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