Growing Transplant Program Caters To Hispanics
A kidney and liver transplant program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital is conducted in Spanish and offers care in a "culturally-sensitive manner."
NEW YORK (AP/WBBM) - A transplant program in Chicago reports a big jump over the past five years and doctors say the reason is clear.
Northwestern Memorial Hospital offers a program tailored to Hispanics, the fastest growing U.S. population.
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The program has dedicated clinics for liver transplant and kidney transplant patients.
The program is believed to be the largest of its kind in the country and attracts patients from as far away as Puerto Rico. It's conducted in Spanish and offers care in a "culturally-sensitive manner."
Program director Dr. Juan Carlos Caicedo says the growth shows specialization is needed to attend to a growing ethnic minority with a high incidence of obesity, Hepatitis C and Hepatitis C. All those can lead to organ transplantation.
The number of kidney transplants in Hispanic patients at the hospital has grown from 22 in 2005 to 41 this year.
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