A Historic Kidney Transplant Chain Transforms 18 Lives in Just 36 Hours in the Bay Area
On June 4, 2015, while much of the Bay Area cheered for the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, a different kind of drama was quietly unfolding inside UCSF Medical Center and California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC). Over just 36 hours, the two hospitals coordinated a remarkable kidney transplant chain involving nine transplants and 18 people, all sparked by a single altruistic donor.
Medical experts believe this may be the longest transplant chain ever performed within one city in such a short time.
“This has never been done before in the Bay Area,” says Dr. Stephen Tomlanovich, medical director of UCSF’s kidney transplant service. “Logistically, managing nine transplants in such a tight window is a massive challenge. It takes an extraordinary amount of coordination.”
Inside the 36-Hour Kidney Chain
Eighteen individuals — nine donors and nine recipients — underwent surgery across the two hospitals. As surgeons worked nonstop, couriers raced between UCSF and CPMC, transporting kidneys from one operating room to another.
And if that wasn’t enough, UCSF completed three additional living-donor kidney transplants during the same period.
The result? One of the busiest and most impactful days in the region’s transplant history.
Why Transplant Chains Matter
Across the U.S., nearly 100,000 people are waiting for a kidney transplant. In California alone, close to 19,000 patients are hoping for a match. UCSF cares for more than 5,200 of these patients — the largest number of any transplant program in the country.
Wait times in the Bay Area are notoriously long. On average, patients can spend six to ten years on the waitlist.
“The odds aren’t good,” Dr. Tomlanovich explains. “I tell my patients they have only about a one-in-five chance of receiving a kidney.”
Because of these long waits, many patients turn to family or friends for a living donation. But incompatible blood types or immune system issues often make direct donation impossible.
This is where transplant chains play a lifesaving role.
How Kidney Transplant Chains Work
When a willing donor isn’t compatible with their loved one, both join a registry such as the National Kidney Registry. Advanced software analyzes hundreds of pairs to find matches across the country.
The chain typically begins with an altruistic donor — someone who donates solely out of compassion.
“They come in and say, ‘I want to donate a kidney to anyone who needs it,’” says Dr. Ryutaro Hirose, a UCSF transplant surgeon. “It’s pure generosity.”
This chain began with Reid Moran-Haywood, a 56-year-old avid runner. Inspired by a friend’s struggle to find a donor, he decided to give his kidney to a stranger.
“With my health and universal donor blood type, the choice was easy,” he says. “I’ve lived a lucky, healthy life. Helping someone else feels like a privilege.”
Two San Francisco Hospitals Joining Forces
UCSF and CPMC had discussed teaming up for months. Their partnership became possible once both hospitals adopted the same matching software: MatchGrid.
With shared (but anonymized) data, the system quickly identified ideal matches across both centers.
“By combining our patient pools, we dramatically improve each person’s chance of finding a match,” says Dr. Steven Katznelson, medical director of CPMC’s kidney transplant program. “Collaboration beats competition when lives are at stake.”
Both hospitals expect this partnership to grow and lead to even larger kidney exchanges in the future.
A New Life for a Kidney Recipient
For Helen Hillman, a 69-year-old from Walnut Creek, the transplant chain was life-changing. Fifteen years earlier, she learned her kidneys were working at just half their normal capacity. By 2013, she depended on nightly home dialysis and had to give up travel, exercise classes, and even lifting her young granddaughter.
Her former sister-in-law and close friend, Cynthia Ginsburg, volunteered to donate a kidney — but they weren’t a match. So they joined UCSF’s paired-donor program together.
A year later, Hillman received her new kidney through the chain.
“This gives me my life back,” she said before her surgery. “I haven’t been able to travel for years because my dialysis machine weighs nearly 60 pounds. Now I want to go to Eastern Europe, Budapest, Russia… there are so many places I’ve been waiting to see.”
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