Ten years ago in 2002, Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth performed its first kidney transplant with a surgical team led by Marlon Levy, MD, surgical director, transplantation, Baylor All Saints.

“In 2002, I remarked that one of the most exciting results for kidney transplant recipients is that their quality of life improves,” said Dr. Levy. “It’s gratifying to know that for ten years the medical team at Baylor All Saints has been giving people a better life after transplantation.”

Chronic hypertension caused The Rev. M.B.. “Johnson” Shannon’s kidneys to fail, bringing him to the Baylor All Saints kidney transplant program. He returned to his position as Parochial Associate for Pastoral Care, All Saints’ Episcopal Church in less than three months after his kidney transplant on July 24, 2012. “First day back at work,” recalls Rev. Shannon, “I put in a full day.”

“I can’t say enough good things about the entire team at Baylor All Saints from the head of the unit all the way down to the custodian,” remarked Shannon. He received a living donor kidney transplant from a relative who was almost a perfect match.

People needing kidney transplants may receive kidneys from living donor instead of being placed on a waiting list to receive kidneys from a deceased person. Living donor kidney transplants are more successful than deceased donor kidney transplants. The living donor is likely to be a better match, and the kidney typically functions immediately after transplant. In comparison, deceased donor kidneys could take several days or weeks to function properly.

Patient Survival Rates Succeed National AverageToday, the BAS transplant team has performed 837 kidney transplants since its inception in September 2012. According to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, Baylor All Saints is above the national average for both one and three year patient survival rates.

The Baylor Annette C. and Harold C. Simmons Transplant Institute is the integration of transplant services at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas and Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth. Together, Baylor Dallas and Baylor Fort Worth are among the largest multi-specialty transplant centers in the country. Goran Klintmalm, M.D., is the chief of the Annette C. and Harold C. Simmons Transplant Institute.

About Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort WorthBaylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth has a technologically advanced heart and vascular treatment facility. Our experienced cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons on the medical staff can treat a wide range of heart and vascular conditions. Located near downtown Fort Worth, Baylor All Saints is a 525-bed medical facility that provides advanced medical technology. Baylor All Saints offers nearly 20 medical specialties, including an extensive transplant program and Baylor All Saints Medical Center's Andrews Women's Hospital.

Physicians are members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Health Care System’s subsidiary, community or affiliated medical centers and are neither employees nor agents of those medical centers, Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth or Baylor Health Care System.# # #

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