LOUISVILLE, Ky. — According to the Centers for Disease Control's 2021 data, Kentucky has the 5th highest rate of chronic lung disease mortality in the United States. Kentucky is also home to the second-highest rate of adult and youth cigarette smokers in the nation.
On Aug. 18 the University of Kentucky healthcare system will be temporarily pausing its lung transplant program because its lung transplant surgical director left to take a job somewhere else.
But there are still treatment options right here in Louisville.
Doctors at UofL Health have been performing lung transplants for more than 30 years.
But if a patient contracts lung disease, it's still a long road before they can get a transplant.
"There is an initial phone interview by one of our nurse coordinators to give sort of an overview of what the process is and then typically the patients will come in for a consultation with myself or one of my colleagues. Just to talk about transplants, what it is, what it isn't," Dr. Allan Ramirez, the medical director of lung transplant at UofL Health, said.
After that initial consultation, if the patient decides they want to pursue a lung transplant, they undergo a bunch of testing to see if they are in good enough health to undergo the procedure, and then after all of that, the patient is put on a lung transplant list.
The waiting period on that transplant list can vary depending on the severity of the patient's disease.
Doctors at UofL Health said the differing wait times from patient to patient are all about saving "as many lives as possible."
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