51 Erie County Medical Center 1978-Present medical center no longer took a subsidy from Erie County. In 2016, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed into law an amendment to the state public authorities’ law, permitting ECMCC to enter into agreements for the creation and operation of integrated health care delivery services in collaboration with Kaleida Health and the University at Buffalo. The legislation amended the existing state law that had created the Erie County Medical Center Corporation as a standalone public benefit corporation. The amendment enables ECMCC to enter into agreements like those of other health systems while maintaining its public status. The Regional Center of Excellence for Transplantation and Kidney Care Since its opening in 2011, the Regional Center of Excellence for Transplantation and Kidney Care at ECMC has provided treatment to patients at every stage of kidney disease or kidney failure. ECMC’s transplant program has offered kidney transplants since 1964 and pancreas transplants since 2004. ECMC’s experienced multidisciplinary team serves the community with consistently high scores in outcomes and transplant rates from deceased donors, and also offers laparoscopic (minimally invasive) donor nephrectomy procedures to promote faster recovery for live kidney donors. ECMC was the first hospital in the community to use laparoscopic kidney removal and the department is nationally recognized for its solo and collaborative research and a program that covers all aspects of nephrology. ECMC’s commitment to excellence and focus on the patient experience has led to high satisfaction for recipients and living donors alike. With advanced therapies in desensitization and paired-donor exchange, our living donor transplant program has also made more transplants possible, helping recipients of those organs as well as patients on the waiting list. ECMC is also positioned to remain in the forefront of major innovations in transplantation, such as steroid-free immunosuppression and the opportunity for patients to participate in ongoing research trials, which offer leading-edge treatments and individualized compassion and attention. In 2017, ECMC performed 138 kidney transplants, the most ever in the history of the hospital. For patients who require a kidney transplant, ECMC consistently ranks first among Upstate New York hospitals. Ribbon cutting at the opening of the Regional Center of Excellence for Transplantation and Kidney Care. Photo courtesy Joe Cascio. Dr. Liise Kayler, program director and surgical director for the Regional Center of Excellence for Tranplantation & Kidney Care.