MEDICAL : 3rd County Kidney Transplant Service to Open at Western Medical Center

Western Medical Center in Santa Ana has received state approval to provide the third kidney transplant service in Orange County, Western Medical President Wayne Schroeder said. Other county hospitals authorized by the state Department of Health Services to perform the transplants are UCI Medical Center and St. Joseph Hospital, both in Orange.

The kidney transplant program is part of Western Medical Center’s push to broaden its services and compete for managed care contracts, Schroeder said.

The program will be directed by Dr. Garo M. Tertzakian, a urology specialist and surgeon. It already has attracted three additional kidney transplant surgeons to Western Medical’s staff, Schroeder said.

Western Medical Center has a kidney dialysis program but has been obliged to send patients to other hospitals for transplants. Currently, Schroeder said, Southern California transplant centers are oversubscribed, and about 1,000 people are on waiting lists for kidneys.

Western Medical plans to perform about 30 kidney transplants a year, Schroeder said. He said the first six candidates and their donors--mostly relatives--are being prepared for the surgery. Later this month, he said, the first transplant at the hospital will be performed on a 22-year-old student of criminal law whose 24-year-old sister will provide a kidney.