Patient Care

The Division of Nephrology and Hypertension provides highly specialized care for many indigent patients in Los Angeles County who have all aspects of kidney diseases, hypertension, kidney stones and kidney transplant. These patients are seen at the Los Angeles General Medical Center Outpatient Center. The Division runs the Diabetic Nephropathy Clinic at Los Angeles General Medical Center, which is fully staffed by highly qualified faculty.

The mission of the Chronic Kidney Disease clinics is to educate patients about their kidney diseases; to prevent the progression to end-stage renal disease and prevent and treat its complications; to diagnose and treat secondary and complicated forms of hypertension; to diagnose and treat different metabolic stone diseases; and to prepare those with advanced kidney disease for the appropriate renal replacement therapy. In addition, the clinics provide treatment for anemia of chronic kidney disease, secondary hyperparathyroidism and metabolic bone disease due to renal osteodystrophy. The faculty also provide ambulatory training and education for medical students, medicine interns, residents and Nephrology fellows on the service. In addition, the clinics provide care for many long-term kidney transplant patients on multiple immunosuppressive medications.

The Division has developed a Diabetic Nephropathy Clinic to provide care to patients with diabetes and kidney disease and to develop research protocols for this disease.

The USC Hypertension Center is a comprehensive clinical program for the diagnosis and management of patients with secondary and resistant forms of hypertension. The Hypertension Center is staffed by full-time teaching faculty who are certified in hypertension. Besides physician specialists, resources include clinical nurse specialists, nutritionists and pharmacologists. The Center specializes in the diagnosis and management of renovascular hypertension, pheochomocythoma and primary aldosteronism, and in the management of resistant hypertension and orthostatic hypotension. This Center has been ranked number one in the country for quality care and clinical outcome.

The Transplant Nephrology Department at the Keck School of Medicine of USC is a nationally recognized program committed to delivering outstanding care to patients with end-stage kidney disease and those undergoing kidney or pancreas transplantation. As part of Keck Medicine of USC—a leading academic health system serving a diverse and complex patient population—our transplant nephrologists provide comprehensive care that spans from initial evaluation through long-term post-transplant management.

Our team specializes in all aspects of kidney and pancreas transplantation, including living and deceased donor evaluation, transplant waitlist management, immunologic risk assessment, and management of post-transplant complications. We care for a high-acuity population with expertise in managing sensitized patients, multi-organ transplant recipients, and those with challenging infectious or cardiovascular comorbidities. The USC kidney transplant program has consistently achieved outstanding outcomes as reported by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) and is certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). We have also been recognized as a transplant center of excellence by the National Kidney Registry.

Care is delivered in close collaboration with transplant surgeons, hepatologists, cardiologists, infectious disease specialists, and pathologists, ensuring an integrated, multidisciplinary approach. Our faculty are actively engaged in quality improvement initiatives and clinical research that seek to advance the field and improve long-term patient and graft outcomes.

Established in 2014, the USC Transplant Nephrology Fellowship is an AST-accredited, one-year advanced training program that prepares board-certified nephrologists for excellence in transplant medicine. Fellows train at Keck Medical Center of USC, a high-volume tertiary care center recognized for its transplant program’s strong clinical outcomes and innovation. Graduates are well-equipped for careers in academic medicine, transplant program leadership, and advanced clinical practice, backed by a program known for its quality, innovation, and commitment to training future leaders in transplant nephrology.

The Division has two faculty attending on the consult service throughout the year at Los Angeles General Medical Center. These faculty see all of the renal consults and provide follow-up visits with the house staff, fellows and students. Division Chief Dr. Kenneth Hallows conducts weekly rounds on the renal service, and Nephrology and Hypertension faculty attend in the renal clinics throughout the year. In addition, the Division performs approximately 400 acute dialyses per month and sees 30 to 50 patients per session in the general renal outpatient clinics at Los Angeles General Medical Center.

Nephrology and Hypertension faculty admit patients and provides renal replacement therapy and consultation services at Keck Medical Center of USC. At present, the Division has approximately 249 hemodialysis and 82 continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients at DaVita-USC. In addition, Nephrology and Hypertension faculty see ambulatory patients at Healthcare Center 2.