UCSF Health Reaches 20,000 Organ Transplants

UC San Francisco surgeons have performed the health system’s 20,000th solid organ transplant, making it just the third in the nation to reach that milestone. The surgery also marked UCSF Health’s first donation after circulatory death (DCD) heart transplant, a procedure performed by only about twenty health systems in the U.S.

The milestone transplant occurred after a donated heart from the Southeastern U.S. became available for transplantation.

UCSF Health’s Organ Transplant Program is one of the largest and most highly regarded in the world. In 2022, UCSF ranked as the second-largest transplant center in the U.S., with the program performing about 60 transplants per month. Survival rates for UCSF Health patients are among the highest in the nation, even though the hospital treats some of the most seriously ill patients and accepts the most challenging cases from other institutions. Since the program's founding in 1964, it has grown to include transplants of the kidneys, liver, heart, lungs and pancreas.

The transplant program is also the largest living donor liver program on the West Coast and the third largest in the country. UCSF’s lung program has the best outcomes in the country. In partnership with the National Kidney Registry, UCSF performs the most living donor-paired exchange kidney transplants in the country. UCSF surgeons performed one of the first HIV+ to HIV+ transplants in the U.S.