How long is the wait for kidney transplant in New York?

Most New Yorkers wait 5–8 years for a transplant. There is a way around it.

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Yes, the wait is much shorter at Erie County Medical Center, Buffalo and we recommend listing there as long as medical insurance is accepted. We've seen getting rejected from listing in their home town due to health insurance plan.

High density population and high occurence of the kidney disease. New York is the second largest state by number of additions (at 74,000 as of end of 2025), the second to California (146,000) Yet, number of cadaveric organ procurement does not match such a high demand. New Yorkers make up nearly 8% of the national organ transplant waiting list.

New York Presbyterian Hospital. Both New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell and New York Presbyterian Columbia University Transplant centers perform 75 living donor transplants annually each.

Yes. First Gene-Edited Pig Kidney Transplant Clinical Trial began at NYU Langone Health Hospital in November 2025.

Free Wait-Time Map

Discover transplant hospitals in New York

Blood Type: Choose Your Blood Type:
Transplant Center Wait time forecast (months) Patients on waiting list 2024 deceased-donor transplants Learn More
Erie County Medical Center 19 247 127
Insights 42.9397553 -78.8099472
New York Univ Medical Center 25 624 242
Insights 40.74727 -73.9800645
Montefiore Medical Center 27 479 198
Insights 40.8723987 -73.8713099
New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell 43 738 223
Insights 40.7645239 -73.9624327
SUNY Downstate Medical Center 45 227 43
Insights 40.6515882 -73.9330429
North Shore University Hospital 46 489 142
Insights 40.7978787 -73.6995749
New York-Presbyterian/Columbia 49 524 136
Insights 40.8409822 -73.9447994
Westchester Medical Center 57 363 79
Insights 41.0748188 -73.7751326
SUNY Upstate Medical University 67 423 55
Insights 43.0347064 -76.1261969
Strong Memorial Hospital 67 439 59
Insights 43.1224766 -77.6242574
University Hosp of SUNY 69 317 46
Insights 40.9183006 -73.1175003
Albany Med Center Hospital 95 218 30
Insights 42.6547387 -73.7889689
Mount Sinai Med Center 103 1953 187
Insights 40.7916407 -73.9447994
Wait Time:
Insights 41.5993157 -83.6295222

Wait Times:

Less than 2 years
2 to 3 years
Over 3 years

Wait Times:

Less than 2 years
2 to 3 years
Over 3 years
Based on OPTN data as of December 11, 2025.

World Class: NYU Langone

NYU Langone is a renowned medical center, lead by internationally recognized physician Dr Montgomery. In 2020, following the implementation of the Execute Order aimed at increasing kidney availability, cadaveric transplant volume rose substantially and NYU Langone has outperformed most centers in New York. Wait times at this hospital have dropped to roughly two years—the shortest in New York—while surrounding transplant centers continue to have significantly longer waits, typically ranging from 4 to 8 years.

Long Waitlists

E.C. from New York, faced a 7-10 year wait in New York City in 2014. He wrote:

First, the great news is that I just received a transplant from Johns Hopkins three weeks ago. A true miracle, since I was told by all six listing hospitals that I had a minimum of 5 years. If not for your website information, I would have stuck to the three NYC area hospitals (8-13 year waits). Instead, I searched for reasonable OPO's, and ended up with the most incredible world class hospital - John Hopkins in Baltimore. Unbelievable experience. They should shutdown all the NYC hospitals and start over, modeling on Hopkins. A New Yorker

Aging Infrastructure

Many of New York City’s transplant centers were built decades ago and continue to serve large patient populations. With older buildings come older plumbing. Hospitals are no exceptions. Unfortunately, infrastructure related incidents happen in older healthcare institutions.

Over 50% of eligible New Yorkers are registered donors, which is the highest from just 32% in 2018, however still below national average.