New procedure offers hope to thousands of people awaiting transplants and supports Ballard Health’s goal of saving 100,000 years of life over the next 10 years while reducing costs for individuals, employers and taxpayers do
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn., May 8, 2024 (Globe Newswire) — More than 100,000 people are currently on the national kidney transplant waiting list. While waiting, most people must rely on expensive and invasive dialysis services to stay alive. Sadly, even though so many people are waiting for a kidney for transplant, more than 8,500 kidneys are donated each year in the United States but are discarded without ever reaching a recipient.
On Saturday, April 20th, the following team of perfusionists 34 lives, The company, a Ballad Ventures portfolio company, combined 34 Lives’ technology and logistics to rescue human kidneys that were initially thought to be unusable for transplant. The rescued kidney was successfully transplanted into a recipient who had been on dialysis for almost two years, and is now safely discharged from the hospital and back home. The transplant was performed at Indiana University Health Facility by Dr. Bill Goggins, professor of surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine.
It is funded by a partnership that includes Ballad Ventures, the venture capital subsidiary of Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health. The Niswonger Foundation is based in Greenville, Tennessee. The National Kidney Foundation (NKF), 34 Lives, uses innovative technology to rescue hard-to-place kidneys and utilizes state-of-the-art logistics to transport these fragile organs from donor to recipient. To do. 34 Lives, a company founded at Purdue University, collaborated with 10 organ procurement organizations (OPOs) and four transplant hospitals: Indiana University Heath and Mount Sinai (New York) to document 80 rescued kidneys. Research is being conducted across the United States. ), University of Wisconsin and University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital.
According to NKF, approximately 750,000 Americans have irreversible kidney failure. Kidney transplantation not only provides a higher quality of life for individuals who no longer require dialysis, but also improves the individual’s life expectancy.
Improving access to transplants could extend the length of transplants and improve quality of life while potentially saving taxpayers, consumers, insurers, and employers hundreds of millions of dollars annually. The cost to Medicare for an individual to continue receiving her dialysis for one year can exceed $100,000. For private insurance companies, the cost can reach he $300,000. It could potentially eliminate the need for dialysis for thousands of patients each year, and once scaled up, it could save the U.S. health care system hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
“When we began investing in new health care technologies three years ago, we were committed to investing where we could improve lives while reducing the overall cost of care for individuals, employers, and taxpayers. We made a commitment,” said Alan Levine, Ballard Health chairman and chief executive officer. . “End-stage renal disease is one of the most confusing, depressing and costly conditions, and investing in and participating in 34 Lives governance has the potential to dramatically reduce wait times for kidney transplants. It fits our mission of honoring the people we serve.”
Marvin Eyechorn, Chief Administrative Officer of Ballad Health and Board Member of 34 Lives, shares his thoughts on 34 Lives from its inception to the important milestone of transplanting the first rescued kidney into a recipient. has contributed to the guidance of
“34 Lives’ leadership team has more than 100 years of experience in the transplant, medical, policy, and technology fields,” Eichhorn said. “As we grow, we are excited about the potential to reach even more people in need locally and across the country.”
“I can’t think of a better investment of my time, resources and energy than to help people suffering from kidney disease have a better quality of life and the hope of living longer,” said Scott Niswonger, president of the Niswonger Foundation. ” he added. I am proud of my friends at Purdue University who supported the research and efforts to bring this opportunity to market. We are also proud that Ballad Ventures and the Niswonger Foundation have partnered to bring 34 Lives to the forefront of this technology and logistics. i need it “
“Investing in technology and better ways to deliver care like 34 Lives is core to Ballad Health’s mission,” said Ballad Health Executive Vice President of Systems Transformation and Chief Population Health Officer, Ballad Ventures. said Anthony Keck, Chairman of the Board. “It is no coincidence that rural health systems and foundations in the Appalachian Plateau are on the front lines of saving lives and improving the quality of life for potentially thousands of people each year. We are proud to have made this investment, as it will save lives, reduce costs and improve lives.”
News of 34 Lives’ first kidney transplant comes on the heels of another Ballad Ventures success story, LifeFlow, a blood and fluid rapid infusion device manufactured by 410 Medical. This new technology can help treat life-threatening conditions such as sepsis. Ballad Health’s investment in 410 Medical and the implementation of LifeFlow in several of its hospitals has already resulted in positive outcomes for patients and earned praise from clinical staff.
To learn more about the 34 Lives initiative, please visit https://34lives.com/..
More information about Ballad Health is available at www.balladhealth.org. Additionally, more information about Ballad Ventures’ efforts to pursue innovations that have the potential to enhance patient care and reach patients and healthcare delivery systems nationally and internationally is available at: https://balladventures.com/.
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About Ballard Health
Ballad Health is an integrated regional health improvement organization serving 29 counties in the Appalachian Plateau of northeastern Tennessee, southwestern Virginia, northwestern North Carolina, and southeastern Kentucky. Our system of 20 hospitals, post-acute care and behavioral health services, and a large multispecialty physician practice works closely with an active independent medical community and local stakeholders. We work together to improve the health and well-being of nearly 1 million people. By leading the implementation of value-based payments, addressing health-related social needs, funding clinical and health systems research, and committing to long-term investments in strong children and families in our region, Ballard Health strives to be a national model for healthcare. Rural health and healthcare. For more information, please visit www.BalladHealth.org.
About Ballard Ventures
Ballad Ventures is a venture capital platform focused on investing in innovative ideas that transform the experience, cost, access and outcomes of health care for the benefit of the people we serve. As the venture capital arm of Ballad Health, this wholly owned subsidiary seeks opportunities to advance the organization’s mission, vision and strategic initiatives.
About the Niswonger Foundation
The Niswonger Foundation was founded in 2001 with the purpose of creating opportunities for individual and community growth through education and other sustainable projects. This dream was envisioned by Scott M. Niswonger, who founded Landair Transport, Inc. and his Forward Air Corporation. These companies were the first two publicly traded companies to be based in Greenville in the history of Greene County, Tennessee. Together, the companies have annual revenues of more than $4 billion and more than 5,000 employees.
34 About Live
34 Lives is a public benefit corporation (PBC) headquartered at the Purdue University Research Park in West Lafayette, Indiana. The company aims to save the lives of patients waiting for kidney transplants by providing innovative solutions that give hard-to-transplant kidneys a second chance and give waiting patients enough time to perform the transplant. We are working hard to. OPTIMAL, a central storage and evaluation service to optimize donor kidney allocation, is the company’s research protocol and can be found at ClinicalTrials.gov. [Identifier NCT06263023]. To learn more about 34 Lives’ work, please visit our website https://34lives.com/.
CONTACT: Molly Luton Ballad Health 423-427-1356 [email protected]