MUSC Health Lancaster Medical Center’s transplant program is redefining its standard of care by expanding to include living kidney donation. This marks a major milestone in access to lifesaving care for patients with end-stage kidney disease.
Living kidney donation involves a healthy person voluntarily donating one of his or her two kidneys to someone with end-stage renal disease. This allows the recipients to avoid or shorten their time on dialysis.
The transplantation team is led by Prince Anand, M.D., director of transplant services and the recipient of the 2026 Clinical Excellence Award, and Ahmed Daoud, M.D., a transplant nephrologist and the 2025 Tinsley Harrison Award winner at MUSC Health Lancaster Medical Center. The team also includes surgical director Ahmad Alqassieh, M.D.; nephrologist Zeeshan Azeem, M.D.; and surgeon Ammar Mahmood, M.D. Together, they are expanding access to living kidney donation in the community by offering patients an alternative to long wait times on donor lists and significantly improving outcomes, quality of life and long-term health.
“The transplant program has been very impactful for this region as well as those in the surrounding area. It only made sense with the sheer volume that we've done and the great outcomes and access that we've been able to provide that the natural next steps are to expand our kidney transplant program to offering living donors,” said Anand. “Starting this program continues to fulfill our mission to offer advanced care to those in need.”
With this expansion, patients in the region can now pursue living donor kidney transplants closer to home, supported by a multidisciplinary care team. Living donation allows for planned surgeries, shorter wait times and often better graft survival. With around 90,000 people on the waitlist to receive a kidney donation in the United States, the advantages of living donation are significant. Donors themselves receive extensive evaluation, education and follow-up to ensure their safety and well-being.
“The most exciting thing for our transplant program is that now we can say it's a full-complement program. We can take living donors here, and we can evaluate patients here safely, making sure they're doing well,” said Anand. “The patients don't have to wait that long. The opportunity to get a living donor kidney is amazing.”
He said that for families navigating chronic kidney disease, this advancement in care not only reduces barriers to treatment, but it also gives them hope and highlights the powerful impact one person can have on another’s life.
The expansion of living kidney donation extends beyond the MUSC Health Lancaster Medical Center. MUSC Health-Catawba Division plans to expand the transplant program to include the new MUSC Health Indian Land Medical Center once it becomes operational, further increasing access to specialized services for patients across the region.
“It’s truly amazing. We’ve been able to demonstrate that we are able to establish the program here at a community hospital and deliver high-quality care and access for those patients in need,” said Edward McCutcheon, M.D., MUSC Health-Catawba Division chief medical officer. “We are building a new hospital in Indian Land, and part of our strategic plans will be to expand and extend our kidney transplant program to the Indian Land Medical Center. With the population density there, and the radius that it covers, it will enable us to provide opportunities for those patients who need or may benefit from a kidney transplant.”
