Temple University Hospital Kidney Transplant: Wait Times & Patient Data

Recent growth in living kidney transplantation. For decades, Temple performed fewer than 10 living-donor kidney transplants in most years. Beginning around 2021, however, the living donor program began to expand substantially, growing into the 20–30 transplant-per-year range and reaching 33 living-donor kidney transplants in 2024.

Willingness to experiment with new ways of helping patients find living donors. Through The Great Social Experiment, participating Temple patients can create public profiles and share their stories with people who may be interested in becoming living donors. Temple reported that two of the first five patients participating in the pilot found living kidney donors through the program. For patients who already have a potential living donor—or who are successful in finding one—Temple's strong focus on living donation can be an important advantage.

Paired kidney exchange. If someone wants to donate a kidney to a family member or friend but isn't medically compatible with that recipient, paired exchange may allow the donor and recipient to be matched with another incompatible pair, creating an opportunity for both recipients to receive compatible kidneys.

Finding a living donor can be an excellent path to transplant. A living-donor kidney can eliminate years of waiting and often provides excellent long-term outcomes. However, finding a living donor—especially someone outside your family or personal network—remains uncertain. Only about 6,000–7,000 living-donor kidney transplants are performed nationwide each year. That total includes donations from relatives, spouses, friends, paired-exchange donors, and other people who already have a connection to a recipient. The number of patients who successfully find a previously unknown person willing and medically able to donate specifically to them is considerably smaller.

For patients facing a long expected wait for a deceased-donor kidney at Temple, living-donor outreach may be one strategy—but it doesn't have to be the only one. A patient can pursue both strategies at the same time: look for a living donor while also exploring transplant centers where a deceased-donor kidney may become available sooner.

Kidney transplant candidates may pursue listing at more than one transplant center. Lehigh Valley Hospital is only about an hour from Philadelphia, yet its estimated deceased-donor wait is approximately two years—significantly shorter than at Temple.