With so many intricate parts to the human body, it’s not often that we stop to think about what they are doing to keep us healthy.

Healthy kidneys are a vital filtering system for the body, cleansing the blood and removing waste products and excess fluids. When damage or disease to the kidneys occurs, waste and fluid can build up in the body, eventually causing kidney failure.

But there is hope for thousands of Long Islanders suffering with chronic kidney failure. In addition to having access to lifesaving dialysis services from the team of experts at Winthrop- University Hospital’s Dialysis Center, the largest hospital-based outpatient dialysis program on Long Island, a new and unique program at Winthrop gives patients a direct link to experts from one of the top-ranked kidney disease programs in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Launched in May, Winthrop’s Gateway Program to the New York- Presbyterian (NYP) Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center Kidney Transplant Program provides patients with chronic renal failure with one-on-one access to members of NYP/Columbia’s expert transplant team who perform transplant evaluations here at Winthrop.

“Winthrop-University Hospital saw a unique opportunity to improve patients’ experiences and bring the expertise of a premier New York City transplant program to Long Island,” said Steven Fishbane, MD, Chief of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at Winthrop-University Hospital. “The Gateway Program to New York-Presbyterian Hospital/ Columbia University Medical Center provides any patient with advanced kidney disease access to pre-surgical evaluations that are conducted by Columbia’s expert transplant team right here at Winthrop.”

Winthrop’s Gateway Program provides a unique opportunity for Long Island patients with chronic renal failure who otherwise may not have sought care from New York- Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center due to travel-related barriers.

Thanks to the accessibility of the program and the individualized expertise that every patient receives from the NYP/Columbia staff and the dedicated clinical team at Winthrop, Winthrop’s Gateway Program has already helped more than 20 patients take momentous strides towards transplantation. What’s more, the program has been instrumental in helping two patients progress through the entire transplantation process – with one patient a grateful recipient of New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia’s first four-way kidney swap, and the other, a recipient of their first simultaneous kidneypancreas transplant.

Members of New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center’s transplant team (l.-r.) Joan Kelly, RN, BSN, CCTC, Chief Transplant Coordinator; David J. Cohen, MD, Medical Director, Renal and Pancreatic Transplant; and Lloyd E. Ratner, MD, FACS, Director, Renal and Pancreatic Transplant; with Steven Fishbane, MD, Chief, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at Winthrop-University Hospital; Charleen Mann, Practice Manager at Winthrop Nephrology Associates; and Paul W. Whalen, Assistant Vice President, Medical Services at Winthrop.