Clinic closure puts transplants on hold

Thirty-four people on a waiting list for kidney transplants have been forced to look elsewhere for help as a result of the temporary closing of the transplant facility at University Medical Center Thursday.

Some have turned to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, the only other facility in the Las Vegas Valley that does kidney transplants, while others are going to neighboring states.

Officials at UMC and the University of Nevada School of Medicine were required to close the center until they can find someone to replace the doctor who has been its director for the past two years.

A March 10 letter from UMC to transplant patients said Dr. Jose Zamora had resigned, effective April 1.

Zamora, however, today strongly denied he had resigned as director of the transplant program.

"They (UMC) just decided to close it," he said.

Zamora said in January he decided to resign from the university but could have remained as director of the transplant facility.

"UMC made the decision to keep the director of the program with the school. Despite my efforts to keep the program open, they decided to close it," he said, adding that he is going into private practice effective July 1, the day his contract ends. He is looking at starting up his own transplant facility.

Zamora is the only doctor in Las Vegas who does kidney-pancreas transplants. He said one other doctor does adult kidney transplants.

He said the decision to leave the school was because there was a personality conflict and a lack of support for the program.

"Basically, they never provided the things they promised me two years ago," he said, "and it didn't look like it was coming anytime soon."

The 34 patients, including six who are waiting for a kidney-pancreas transplant, were notified three weeks ago that procedures at the facility will be suspended while a search is under way for a new director.

UMC spokeswoman Trish Lampro said interviews are being conducted, but there is no way to know how long the hiring process might take.

The facility does only kidney and kidney-pancreas transplants, Lampro noted.

Claudia Swift, transplant coordinator at Sunrise Hospital, said Sunrise and UMC have separate transplant programs but share donor lists.

She said it is the responsibility of the individual patients to contact Sunrise or some other facility about their transplant needs.

Patients who have contacted Sunrise won't lose any time in their wait, Swift said. In Nevada, Swift said, the average wait for a kidney transplant is about a year.

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