The Hines program is only the eighth VA Kidney Transplant Program in the country. Before this, Veterans with kidney disease had to travel to either Pittsburgh or Iowa City, Iowa, for their transplant evaluations and surgery. The Hines VA Kidney Transplant Program is the only transplant center serving Veterans in the state of Illinois and will serve not only all Veterans in the Midwest, but nationwide. The process to establish the program took three years.

 The COVID-19 pandemic has caused some disruption in renal transplant activity nationwide, but with highly accurate testing of both donors and recipients, kidney transplantation has continued safely.

 “We feel very fortunate at Hines to be able to offer kidney transplantation to the Veterans in the Chicago area and the nation,” said Dr. Reynold Lopez-Soler of the Hines Renal Transplant Program. “The team is highly trained and motivated, and we are excited to begin this new chapter at Hines VA.”

 Veterans may learn more about the transplant program at https://www.va.gov/health/services/transplant/.

 
About Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital

 Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital, located 12 miles west of downtown Chicago on a 147-acre campus, offers primary, extended and specialty care to veteran patients in the Chicago area. We are the largest VA in the state of Illinois, where more than a million veterans reside. The hospital treats more than 56,000 veterans from World War II through the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.