Trinity Health Opens Kidney Transplant Clinic in Traverse City, Expanding Access to Northern Michigan Patients

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (April 22, 2025) – Trinity Health Grand Rapids is expanding its five decades of kidney transplant expertise to Northern Michigan by opening a new satellite clinic in Traverse City. The clinic will eliminate at least one visit to Grand Rapids for northern Michigan patients at the Trinity Health Grand Rapids Kidney Transplant Center, the only adult kidney transplant center in west Michigan. 

For many kidney patients, especially those in northern Michigan, transportation can be a barrier to care. Patients residing in the Upper Peninsula drive more than 8 hours to their transplant related appointments in Grand Rapids. To ease the burden of travel, the Grand Rapids Kidney Transplant Center will be opening the Trinity Health Kidney Transplant Clinic – Traverse City.

“At the Grand Rapids Kidney Transplant Center, we are committed to helping patients eliminate barriers to kidney transplant,” said Jill Wagner, MSN, RN, CNML, PCCN, Transplant Services Liaison, Trinity Health Grand Rapids. “We recognize that driving several hours to Grand Rapids for appointments can be taxing. We are excited to offer this clinic for patients in Northern Michigan and hope to expand the offerings at this clinic in the future, helping to reduce long-distance travel and bringing more hope to patients in need of a kidney transplant.”

The clinic will be open on the second Thursday of every other month, offering the first of two pre-transplant appointments with patients who have been referred to the Trinity Health Grand Rapids Kidney Transplant Center. During this appointment, the patient will meet with several members of the transplant team virtually to learn about the process and begin their transplant evaluation. 

The clinic is scheduled to open in May 2025 and will be located inside the Munson Healthcare Kidney & Hypertension Specialists office at 3537 Front Street, Suite A, Traverse City, MI 49684.

Patients who are interested in a kidney transplant to treat their end-stage renal disease should speak to their primary nephrologist, dialysis center, or primary care physician and ask for a referral to the Grand Rapids Kidney Transplant Center. Upon scheduling, patients in northern Michigan will be offered the ability to be seen at the Trinity Health Kidney Transplant Clinic – Traverse City. 

The new clinic is the latest example in Trinity Health’s commitment to bringing health care closer to home. In June 2024, Trinity Health Grand Rapids opened the Trinity Health Kidney Transplant Clinic – Medical Pavilion in Muskegon to expand access to patients along the lakeshore.