St. Joseph’s Adds Liver Transplant Program
Busiest lung transplant service in West expands program to include kidney and liver

(June 2015) - Already a national leader in lung transplantation, Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in downtown Phoenix now offers liver transplantation to patients in Arizona and the Southwest.

The United Network for Organ Sharing, which is contracted by the federal government to manage the nation's organ transplant system, approved St. Joseph’s program and the first liver transplant is expected to occur this fall.

Having performed more than 330 lung transplantations since opening eight years ago, St. Joseph’s Norton Thoracic Institute is currently the busiest lung transplant program in the Western United States. Just months after performing its first kidney transplant surgery, St. Joseph’s becomes the only hospital in Arizona with active liver, lung and kidney transplantation programs.

“The same transplant experience and expertise that has catapulted St. Joseph’s lung program to national standing will translate to bring the liver program to similar heights in a short time,” said Richard Manch, MD, chief of hepatology in the Center for Liver and Hepatobiliary Disease at St. Joseph’s who also serves as a clinical professor of medicine with the University of Arizona.

St. Joseph’s unique liver program focuses on screening and prevention of liver disease, and it is the highest-volume provider of hepatitis care in the West.  According to the National Liver Foundation, there are currently over 16,000 Americans on the waiting list for a liver transplant.

“We now have the option of offering the highest quality liver transplant services to those patients for whom there is no alternative, and this can restore them to a long and healthy life," said Justin Reynolds, MD, hepatologist and gastroenterologist in the Center for Liver and Hepatobiliary Disease at St. Joseph’s and medical director for the hospital’s liver transplant program.

A single outpatient center to serve pre- and post-clinical care needs of liver, lung and kidney transplant patients will open later this summer in the McAuley Office Building, 500 W. Thomas. Road, Phoenix.