Living kidney donation in
California
Verified centers in California
California Pacific Medical Center-Van Ness Campus
San Francisco, CA
NLDAC financial assistancePaired exchangeSutter's living-donor page says CPMC guides donors from a free evaluation through recovery, including a two-day donor evaluation with medical exam, psychosocial consultation, and blood compatibility testing, and that incompatible pairs can go through paired kidney donation.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Los Angeles, CA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchangeCedars-Sinai's living-donor page says prospective donors register online, complete an in-person evaluation, and incompatible pairs may be considered for paired exchange, medication therapy, or advanced donation.
Children's Hospital Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchangeCHLA's living-donor page says kidney donation for its patients is done in partnership with Keck Medicine of USC, where adult donors are evaluated and have their surgery, and that the program can coordinate a paired kidney exchange when a donor's blood type is not compatible.
Harbor UCLA Medical Center
Torrance, CA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchange · not yet verifiedHarbor-UCLA's transplant program page says potential donors are evaluated by the transplant team against selection criteria covering age, health, and pregnancy status before donor surgery is scheduled.
Keck Hospital of USC
Los Angeles, CA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchangeKeck Medicine of USC's living-donor page says its program participates in paired kidney exchange across the country, including through the National Kidney Registry, for donors who are not compatible with their intended recipient.
Loma Linda University Medical Center
Loma Linda, CA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchange · not yet verifiedLoma Linda University Health's living-donor page says a kidney donor does not need to be related to the recipient, though the program notes a blood-related donor is more likely to be compatible.
Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford
Palo Alto, CA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchange · not yet verifiedLucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford's donor FAQ says its pediatric program prefers living-donor transplants for their lower rejection rates, that a parent is typically the most likely donor, and its minimal-incision nephrectomy gives donors a shorter recovery than the standard approach.
Rady Children's Hospital and Health Center
San Diego, CA
NLDAC financial assistancePaired exchange · not yet verifiedRady Children's living-donor page says kidney donation for its pediatric patients is coordinated with UC San Diego Health, where donors are evaluated and undergo surgery, and lists paired and voucher donation through the National Kidney Registry as options.
Saint Joseph Hospital
Orange, CA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchange · not yet verifiedSaint Joseph Hospital's kidney-donation page says its transplant center will evaluate all appropriate options for living donation and lists blood-type compatibility among the criteria a donor should meet.
Scripps Green Hospital
La Jolla, CA
NLDAC financial assistancePaired exchange · not yet verifiedScripps Green's living organ donation page names the National Living Donor Assistance Center as a resource that can help with a donor's lost wages and travel expenses, alongside the center's own Donor Shield benefit.
Sharp Memorial Hospital
San Diego, CA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchangeSharp's living-donor page says its kidney transplant program is part of the Living Donor Kidney Exchange Program through the National Kidney Registry, and also describes a voucher donation option for donors without a compatible recipient.
Stanford Health Care
Stanford, CA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchange · not yet verifiedStanford Health Care's living-donor pages describe two donor types its program supports: direct donors who give to a loved one, and paired or chain donors, whose kidney goes to a stranger in exchange for a compatible kidney for their own loved one.
UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay
San Francisco, CA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchange · not yet verifiedUCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals' living-donor kidney page, a pediatric program description, says a potential donor first meets with a transplant doctor and coordinator, then undergoes tissue typing for suitability, and points families to UCSF Health's adult kidney care providers for more.
University of California Davis Medical Center
Sacramento, CA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchangeUC Davis's living-donation page says the process begins with a health questionnaire reviewed by a living donor nurse coordinator, that incompatible donor-recipient pairs can join its paired exchange program, and that donors then complete a medical evaluation before surgery is scheduled.
University of California Irvine Medical Center
Orange, CA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchangeUC Irvine Health's living-donor program page says it coordinates paired exchanges linking two or more donor-recipient pairs, and describes the program as a National Kidney Registry Center of Excellence.
University of California San Diego Medical Center
La Jolla, CA
NLDAC financial assistancePaired exchange · not yet verifiedUC San Diego Health's living-donation page names the National Living Donor Assistance Center as a resource for a donor's lost wages and travel expenses, and describes a paired exchange arranged with the National Kidney Registry.
University of California San Francisco Medical Center
San Francisco, CA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchange · not yet verifiedUCSF's living-donor kidney page says candidates complete a full medical, surgical, and psychosocial evaluation, and that its paired exchange and advanced donation voucher programs help donors and recipients with incompatible blood or tissue types donate through each other.
University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center
Los Angeles, CA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchangeUCLA Health's living-donor page describes a Paired Exchange Program for donor-recipient pairs who are not directly compatible, alongside direct, non-directed, and advanced kidney donation.
Living donors in California: grade B
California has 3 of the seven protections tracked, which is around the national middle. Check which ones cover your situation before you plan around them.
What the American Kidney Fund tracks, in every state
- Insurance companies cannot deny you life, disability or long-term care cover, or charge you more, because you donated
- Job-protected leave if you work for the state
- Job-protected leave if you work for a private employer
- Paid leave for living donors
- A tax credit or deduction for your donation costs
- Direct reimbursement of donation expenses
- A tax credit for employers who give donors paid leave
This is the full list AKF scores every state against — not a claim about which of these California has. The fact sheet below has that detail, and it is more current than anything cached here.
Federal family leave can already cover donation. A law written for living donors has not passed yet.
The Department of Labor's position, set out in a formal opinion letter, is that donation surgery and the recovery after it count as a serious health condition under the Family and Medical Leave Act whenever they involve an overnight hospital stay, as donation surgery commonly does. So if you are eligible under that Act, you can take leave to donate and recover, come back to the same or an equivalent job, and keep your group health cover while you are away. The leave itself is unpaid, though paid leave your employer offers can run alongside it. Eligibility depends on the size of your employer and your workplace, and on how long and how many hours you have worked there — the Department of Labor's fact sheet sets out the exact tests, and your employer's HR team can confirm them for you.
The Living Donor Protection Act would write that leave protection into the law itself, and would stop life, disability and long-term care insurers from refusing cover or charging more because you donated. It has not passed. The Senate version has cleared its committee and is awaiting a floor vote; the House version has not moved since it was introduced. Paid leave, and protection for anyone the family-leave law does not reach, depends on what your state has done.
U.S. Department of Labor, opinion letter FMLA2018-2-A; U.S. Department of Labor, FMLA eligibility fact sheet; Congress.gov, S. 1552 / H.R. 4583, checked 24 September 2026
What it costs, and what covers it
The recipient's insurance covers a donor's evaluation, surgery and follow-up. Programs like NLDAC reimburse travel, lodging, dependent care and lost wages for donors who need it — the donor guide walks through both, with sources.
Talk to someone who has donated
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Browse campaignsMy Kidney Story does not collect, store, or evaluate medical information, and nothing on this page is medical advice. Donor eligibility is determined solely by a transplant center after its own independent evaluation.
My Kidney Story is independent and is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, any center listed here, SRTR, OPTN or NLDAC.