Location
Organ Transplant Service at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
8901 Wisconsin Ave.
Building 9 (Arrowhead), Floor 1
Bethesda, MD 20899
Information for Patients
Originally established in 1972 as the Army-Navy Transplant Service, the Organ Transplant Service provides state-of-the-art specialty care for beneficiaries who qualify for organ transplant or living donation. Patients may be referred from anywhere in the world.
Our goal is to be the primary treatment option for all TRICARE-eligible beneficiaries—service members from all branches, retirees, and family members—and veterans—from all locations across the Military Health System. Active duty service members may be eligible for funding for travel expenses if referred from outside of the catchment area of our locations.
The Transplant Surgery Center of Excellence treats:
- Active duty service members of all branches
- TRICARE-eligible beneficiaries
- Veterans
- Living donors – all beneficiary categories and non-beneficiaries donating an organ to a beneficiary
Inpatient Treatment
- Any General Surgical conditions in conjunction with pancreatic, renal, or hepatic insufficiency
- Renal transplantation
- Living kidney donation
- Benign and oncologic hepatobiliary and pancreas surgery
- Peritoneal dialysis access
- Portal hypertension
Virtual Consultation/Referral
- All conditions treated in inpatient setting
- Pancreatic transplantation*
- Hepatic transplantation*
* OTS surgeons may facilitate referral to external institution.
If you have questions or would like to contact the Transplant Surgery team about your potential care, please visit the Transplant Surgery Intake Form or send an email to: dha.bethesda.wrnmmc.mbx.organ-transplant@health.mil.
If you are a potential living kidney donor seeking to receive consultation from or surgery at WRNNMC’s OTS, please contact us at dha.bethesda.walter-reed-med-ctr.mbx.living-donor@health.mil. This includes but is not limited to TRICARE beneficiaries.
Information for Healthcare Teams
The Organ Transplant Center is rated as a five-star transplant center based on Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients data. It demonstrates superior outcomes for kidney transplant and patient survival rates relative to both national averages and other healthcare institutions within the National Capital Region.
Medical care is provided on a personal level by a multidisciplinary team of highly-qualified professionals. Each board-certified surgeon is supported by nephrologists, hepatologists, nurse coordinators, pharmacists, and social services all with years of experience in the field.
While the surgical focus of the Transplant Surgery Center of Excellence is renal transplantation, the Organ Transplant Service can consult other military hospitals and clinics on a range of organ-related conditions that may require transplant. The Transplant Surgery Center of Excellence is also available to provide virtual consultation and case review of living donor requests by active duty service members to support the readiness mission.
Transplant Surgery Center of Excellence leaders worked with the DHA Integrated Referral Management and Appointing Center to create clinical criteria for cases to be prioritized for virtual consultation by or referral to the Organ Transplant Center.
- MTF providers may initiate a referral for virtual consultation using MHS GENESIS Referral Management 2.0.
- Managed care support contractors will work with TRICARE Health Plan and the DHA Integrated Referral Management and Appointing Center to assess beneficiaries’ eligibility to receive care at this Center of Excellence based on target clinical referral criteria.
