Two Rhode Island Hospital patients who have undergone a unique type of kidney donation—kidney exchange—will share their stories at a ceremony recognizing the New England Program for Kidney Exchange (NEPKE). With more than 66,000 Americans on the kidney waiting list, and nearly 195 of those at Rhode Island Hospital, the New England Program for Kidney Exchange offers a new option for those seeking a kidney transplant, but whose potential living donor is incompatible.

On Wednesday, April 19 at 10:30 a.m., in the Hasbro Children’s Hospital lower lobby, Rhode Island Hospital and the New England Organ Bank will recognize this innovative program and pay tribute to the families who have benefited from it. Two women, one who might still be on the kidney transplant waiting list if she had not participated in the program, and another who helped her husband find a compatible donor, will share their stories. Representatives from Rhode Island Hospital and the New England Organ Bank will also give an overview of the program and its impact on the thousands of people in the United States who are waiting for a kidney transplant.

Using a computer program, NEPKE finds cases where the donor in an incompatible pair can be matched to a different incompatible pair. By exchanging donors, the program finds a compatible match for both people waiting for a kidney.

A kidney exchange can be performed in two ways. First, a patient can undergo a paired kidney exchange, in which a donor is willing to donate to a spouse, friend, or relative, but cannot do so because he or she is incompatible. The exchange program will help find another incompatible pair who might wish to exchange donor kidneys. They then “swap” donor kidneys.

Another type of kidney exchange results when a transplant candidate’s incompatible spouse, friend or relative chooses to donate a kidney to someone on the waiting list. By doing so, the candidate, who still does not have a donor, will then move up on the deceased donor wait list and will receive the next compatible donor kidney.

Each of the speakers sharing a story on Wednesday participated in one of the two types of exchanges. One speaker had been on the waiting list and on dialysis for nearly a year. The other speaker’s husband had also been on the waiting list and on dialysis for about a year. Since the wait for a kidney can span many years, both patients might still be waiting and undergoing dialysis if not for this innovative program.

Kidney exchange programs are developing across the country. Rhode Island Hospital is the only transplant program in the state to participate in an exchange program. The transplant program at Rhode Island Hospital is one of the largest, fastest growing programs in New England.

Every day, 17 people die while waiting for an organ transplant. As April is National Donate Life Month, the ceremony is an opportunity to recognize the NEPKE, which can help reduce the number of people on the waiting list, and to raise awareness of the desperate need for organ donation.