Living kidney donation in
New Jersey
Verified centers in New Jersey
Hackensack University Medical Center
Hackensack, NJ
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchangeHackensack Meridian's living-donor program page lists paired kidney donation, ABO-incompatible transplants, remote donation, and advanced donation among the living-donation options it offers, and says non-directed donors often start a chain of transplants through its paired exchange program.
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
New Brunswick, NJ
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchangeRWJBarnabas Health's living-donor program page says it built New Jersey's first and most comprehensive living-donor program, listing a Living Donor Kidney Exchange Program for a donor and recipient pair that is not compatible, alongside altruistic donation and a Compatible Share Program; the Robert Wood Johnson Transplant Center in New Brunswick is listed as one of the program's own locations.
Saint Barnabas Medical Center
Livingston, NJ
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchangeRWJBarnabas Health's living-donor program page says it built New Jersey's first and most comprehensive living-donor program, listing a Living Donor Kidney Exchange Program for a donor and recipient pair that is not compatible, alongside altruistic donation and a Compatible Share Program; the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Department at the Livingston campus is listed as one of the program's own locations.
Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital
Camden, NJ
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchangeVirtua's living-donor page says Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital took part in the first successful paired-exchange kidney transplant in the Philadelphia region, and describes ongoing paired-exchange and remote-transplant participation for donor and recipient pairs who are not compatible.
Living donors in New Jersey: grade A
New Jersey is among the better-protected states, with 6 of the seven protections tracked. Still worth reading which ones — they cover quite different things.
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 New Jersey 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.