Kelly Konieczny sits on her bed at home in Mannville, Alta. on Jan. 16. Ms. Konieczny has been removed from the February matching run of the national kidney exchange program because Alberta doesn't have the capacity to perform the operations.Amber Bracken /The Globe and Mail
Alberta has partly reversed its decision to remove some kidney transplant candidates and willing living donors from a national matching program, according to the provincial health authority.
The Globe and Mail reported earlier this month that Alberta Health Services had paused participation for northern residents in Canadian Blood Services’s kidney paired donation program. Alberta pulled out of the February matching cycle because Edmonton lacks anesthesiologists and there is a backlog of donors and transplant candidates waiting for surgery.
But AHS on Thursday said transplant candidates classified as highly sensitized patients, meaning those who have high antibodies and are therefore incompatible with most potential donors, will be eligible for the February cycle. AHS did not clarify how many people will be re-enrolled and how many remain excluded.
“Highly sensitized patients have extremely limited options as they will not match 95 per cent or more of the population,” AHS spokesman Kerry Williamson said in response to questions from The Globe. “This decision ensures they will have every opportunity to find a match.”
The announcement comes with a caveat. Mr. Williamson said transplant surgeries stemming from program matches are typically expected within three months of pairing. The highly sensitized patients are being admitted into the February cycle with the “understanding that surgical teams can extend timelines beyond the three-month window if necessary,” he said.
Kelly Konieczny and Kathy Tachynski told The Globe they were informed Tuesday that they were being re-enrolled in the February cycle. Both are considered highly sensitized patients, with antibodies that would clash with roughly 100 per cent of the population.
“I am very thankful for this decision,” Ms. Konieczny said. “It isn’t everyone, and that is still a large issue, but it’s a start.”
The program consists of a registry of transplant candidates and potential donors recruited on their behalf. The willing living donors agree to give up a kidney to someone else in the program in exchange for their loved one receiving a functioning organ in return. The program deepens the pool of potential donors for kidney transplant candidates across the country. After the February matching run, the next cycle is scheduled for June.
AHS’s original decision to suspend participation in the program for some residents underlined the turmoil plaguing the province’s health care system. Further, it meant residents struggling to find a suitable kidney donor would miss out on a chance to find a compatible match.
Alberta’s health care system is under widespread pressure. The Globe reported on Wednesday that the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton delayed and cancelled pediatric surgeries because it was overwhelmed and understaffed in December. The chaos resulted in hospital staff cancelling a transplant procedure after the prospective donor, Jessica Nichol, had already been anaesthetized. She was donating a kidney to her 12-year-old daughter. After Ms. Nichol came to, the hospital found the necessary staff and space to resume the operations and put Ms. Nichol under again. The surgeons then performed the transplant operations.
The Stollery, in response, apologized to the family.