Tufts Medical Center in downtown Boston has snagged official approval to launch a living donor liver transplant program, marking a major next step in the hospital’s rebooted transplant efforts. The new offering gives patients with advanced liver disease another potential lifeline if they have a willing friend or family member, and hospital leaders say it is designed to pair complex surgery with hands-on donor navigation and strong post‑operative support.
As first reported by the Boston Business Journal, federal authorization clears Tufts to start performing living donor liver surgeries at its downtown campus. The move builds on the health system’s recent relaunch of liver services and key regulatory milestones that set the groundwork for this next phase. The goal is to open up more options for New England patients who are stuck on long waitlists for deceased donor organs.
What living donation involves
Living liver donation means a surgeon removes a portion of a healthy donor’s liver and transplants it into a recipient, while the donor keeps the remaining section. In most cases, both the transplanted portion and the donor’s remaining liver regrow over time. Tufts Medicine says its new program will include careful donor screening, a streamlined two‑day evaluation process and dedicated follow‑up care to protect donor safety, according to Tufts Medicine.
Part of a program revival
Tufts brought its liver transplant program back online in 2023 and completed its first liver transplant in 16 years, according to local coverage. That comeback, along with the buildout of transplant staff and infrastructure, helped pave the way for adding living donor liver operations across the system, WCVB has reported.
Why living donors matter
The American Liver Foundation estimates that nearly 9,000 people in the United States are currently waiting for a liver transplant. Out of 10,659 liver transplants performed nationwide in 2023, 658 came from living donors, or about 6.2%. Expanding access to living donor programs is one strategy national groups highlight to cut down on waitlist deaths and give some patients the chance to have a planned, timely surgery, according to the American Liver Foundation.
What patients and referring doctors should know
Referring physicians can send potential transplant candidates directly to Tufts’ liver transplant team, and prospective donors can start the process through the hospital’s living donor portal. The hospital lays out step‑by‑step referral, evaluation and support services for donors and recipients on its website, according to Tufts Medicine. For patients and families trying to decide on next steps, transplant teams and hepatologists remain the go‑to experts on whether living donation is a safe and appropriate choice.
