(SEATTLE) Northwest Kidney Centers has been selected to participate in Washington, D.C. on Monday, when the White House will host an Organ Summit. The Administration calls the event “another essential step toward increasing access to organ transplants and reducing the organ waiting list.”
Dr. Leanna Tyshler, transplant liaison and medical advisor on quality initiatives, will represent both Northwest Kidney Centers and the Nonprofit Kidney Care Alliance, a group of dialysis organizations from across the country.
She will join with senior Administration officials, representatives from companies, foundations, universities, hospitals and patient advocacy organizations who are working to increase access to organ transplants and reduce the organ waiting list. Only a handful of dialysis providers will be among them.
“At the summit, the Administration and private entities will announce a new set of actions that will build on the Administration’s previous accomplishments to improve outcomes for individuals waiting for organ transplants and improve support for living donors,” according to the White House announcement.
“Almost 25 percent of our dialysis patients are on the transplant waiting list. They want a new kidney, they’ve met the qualifications, and still they wait. We want them to live the life they were meant to live with a new kidney,” said Northwest Kidney Centers president and CEO Joyce F. Jackson.
“We aim to help people with serious kidney disease in our region to become knowledgeable about transplant as an option, and to be as healthy as possible when the call comes for a transplant.” In part because of the organization’s commitment, Northwest Kidney Centers patients are 80 percent more likely than peers across the country to get a kidney transplant.
You can watch a live stream of the summit’s opening session in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building auditorium from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Pacific at www.whitehouse.gov/live. Later in the day, participants will meet privately in small working groups.
Northwest Kidney Centers is an independent, not-for-profit provider of kidney dialysis, public health education and research into the causes and treatments o chronic kidney disease.
With 15 dialysis clinics and $112 million in annual revenue, it is among the largest dialysis providers in the country. It is a model in the field because of its high quality services, deep community connections and generous donor support. Almost 4 out of 5 people who need dialysis in Washington’s King and Clallam counties choose Northwest Kidney Centers. The organization gives close to 250,000 treatments each year, more than a quarter of all dialysis treatments in the state.
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