What is the Hispanic Transplant Program?

The Northwestern Medicine Hispanic Transplant Program is the first transplant program in the country providing transplant care for Hispanic patients. The program has the largest bilingual and bicultural transplant team dedicated to serving patients in need of a transplant based on their cultural and language preferences.

Visiting a physician can make patients feel anxious, and a language barrier can make visits even more stressful. To help our patients who prefer to communicate in Spanish feel more comfortable, Northwestern Medicine offers the Hispanic Transplant Program.

The program supports Northwestern Medicine’s goal of providing customized patient care for patients who prefer to communicate in Spanish and who are undergoing kidney, liver, pancreas or small bowel transplantation. We have a bilingual team that includes:

• Surgeons
• Physicians
• A social worker
• A financial coordinator
• A clinical research coordinator
• Other support staff members

Through the Hispanic Transplant Program, we offer an evaluation clinic where patients who need a transplant can receive personalized care. Personalizing patient care includes tailoring your medical treatments to your needs and recognizing how cultural differences affect you and your care. We offer this level of care throughout your transplant journey.

Access program content in Spanish: Programa Hispano Trasplantes

Infórmate helps patients with kidney failure who prefer to speak Spanish learn about the options, risks and benefits of living and deceased donor kidney transplants so that they can make informed decisions. The website was developed to provide more information about living kidney donations for people who prefer to communicate in Spanish.

The site also debunks myths and misinformation and explains that living donors can have children, exercise, work, eat what they want as long as it is healthy and have a normal sex life after donating a kidney.

The Infórmate website is a collaborative effort between:

• Juan C. Caicedo Ramirez, MD, Director of the Hispanic Transplant Program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
• The National Kidney Foundation of Illinois (NKFI).
• Elisa J. Gordon, PhD, MPH