Specialists and Care Centers

Liver Transplantation Specialists and Care Centers

The Northwestern Medicine liver transplant team* is dedicated to improving the quality of life for their patients. Individually, the team members are among the most experienced and respected medical professionals in the world, having developed and refined many advanced medical and surgical procedures.

Together, they provide a unique resource for patients and physicians who require comprehensive, state-of-the-art care to manage complications of kidney, pancreas, liver and intestinal disorders.

Our physicians believe that successful medical management of complex disorders—including cholestatic disease, liver cancer and end-stage liver disease—requires a team approach.

The entire multidisciplinary transplant team is here to help you with both your decisions and your care, providing the best care possible for you before and after your surgery. This team is a group of health care professionals who have special training and experience in transplantation. The team includes:

• Transplant surgeons
• Hepatologists
• Psychiatrists
• Transplant nurse coordinators
• Nurse practitioners
• Staff nurses
• Registered dietitians
• Licensed social workers
• Licensed clinical social workers
• Clinical coordinators
• Patient financial liaisons
• Physical therapists
• Occupational therapists
• Pharmacist

Our team sees each patient individually and performs a comprehensive assessment to determine risk factors and then develop the best treatment plan. We work closely with patients and their families to answer questions and provide guidance about treatments and procedures. In addition, we help patients and families manage post-hospitalization care by working with primary care physicians to improve each patient’s quality of life.

Schedule an Appointment

To learn if you qualify for a liver, kidney or pancreas transplant, please call 312.695.8900 (TTY: 711). We can help you schedule an appointment at one of our locations.

Why Choose Northwestern Medicine for Your Liver Transplantation

Northwestern Memorial Hospital has performed more than 2,500 liver transplants.

Northwestern Memorial Hospital is the largest liver transplant program in Illinois and one of the largest in the country. We are also the largest living donor liver transplant program in Illinois.

Our expertise helps us achieve the best possible outcomes. Our transplant and graft outcomes compare favorably with other programs and national outcomes. View our center-specific performance data as well as data of other centers.

Northwestern Medicine Living Donor Program

In some cases, a living donor may donate a section of liver for transplant to someone else, often a family member or friend. This poses some risk to the donor because of the nature of the operation, but since the liver can regenerate itself to some extent, both parties usually end up with fully functioning livers after a successful transplant.

The Northwestern Medicine Hispanic Liver Transplant Program

We recognize the importance of culturally sensitive care. The Northwestern Medicine Hispanic Transplant Program offers transplant care to people who prefer to communicate about their health care in Spanish.

The program includes a bilingual transplant team that includes:

• Surgeons
• A social worker
• A transplant nurse coordinator
• A financial coordinator
• Other support staff

Led by Juan Carlos Caicedo, MD, we offer education about transplants that is presented in Spanish. This educational clinic is in downtown Chicago.

Satellite outreach clinics

In addition to the downtown campus, we are available to see patients at any one of our liver transplant outreach clinics throughout Indiana and Illinois.

Our focus on community outreach benefits patients and their physicians by providing many of the pre-liver transplant services close to home, convenient accessibility and the experience that affords our patients the opportunity for a successful liver transplant. We are available to see the following types of patients in the outreach clinics:

• Complex liver disease patients requiring consultation or second opinion
• Potential liver transplant candidates
• Patients on the Northwestern Memorial Hospital liver transplant waiting list

Explore our transplant resources. These include patient education materials, support groups and more.