Johnson's youngest sister, Fran Baker, agreed to give him one of her kidneys.

He had begun to succumb to the polycystic kidney disease he'd been diagnosed with years earlier, and his organs had stopped clearing waste from his blood. The retired OB-GYN's belly had swollen to the size of a pregnant woman's.

As Johnson awaited transplantation surgery at PinnacleHealth in Harrisburg, Johnson depended upon a procedure called dialysis to keep him alive.

And once again, luck was on Johnson's side, because he lives in York County. He is close to two transplant centers and one of the largest dialysis treatment facilities on the East Coast, said Patricia Bucek, executive director of the Kidney Foundation of Central Pennsylvania.

Both PinnacleHealth and Penn State Hershey Medical Center offer transplant surgery. Proximity to a transplant center is huge for kidney patients, Bucek said, because dialysis alone is not a cure to kidney failure.

The dialysis machine keeps patients alive by performing the function of the kidneys when the organs fail while the patient waits for a transplant, Bucek said. It keeps blood clear of waste like urea, the chemical compound found in urine.

ProPublica, an investigative journalism organization, updated its Dialysis Facility Tracker Tuesday. The tracker measures treatment facilities on patient death rates, frequency of hospitalization for infections and related problems, rates for kidney transplants, how the clinics did in their most recent inspection and more.

The organization's findings are often bleak. For example, there are reports of blood encrusted on chairs, walls and ceilings, ant infestations and infections that cost patient lives.

In York County, that doesn't appear to be the case.

Johnson went to WellSpan's center three times a week and connected to the machine through a fistula on his right arm.

Once, the machine began to malfunction, Johnson said, but technicians corrected the problem within minutes.

Later, technicians taught Johnson's wife to administer the dialysis on loaned the Johnson equipment so he could complete his treatment in his home.

Of the 300 patients receiving treatment from WellSpan's facilities in Littlestown and York, about 45 are receiving the treatment from home, according to Wendy Evangelista, clinical director of WellSpan's dialysis services.

"It's not as common as we would like," she said. To qualify, patients have to show they can maintain a clean environment and be responsible enough to perform the necessary tasks. The hospital does home visits to make sure, Evangelista said.

It also alleviates one of the few problem areas in York for kidney patients - transportation. Often, dialysis patients are required to visit a center three times a week for treatment. Getting there can be a hardship for some, Bucek said.

York has no shortage of dialysis center in the area. Two are located within York - WellSpan and DCA of York. DCA of York referred questions to a corporate office, which did not return phone calls.

Both York dialysis centers' results are in line with national averages, according to ProPublica data.

WellSpan uses reports like the ProPublica numbers to look for areas of improvement, Bucek said. For example, 94 percent of WellSpan patients recorded adequate urea removal in 2010. That's slightly below the national average of 97 percent. It's an area WellSpan is seeking to improve, she said.

In 2009, Johnson received his transplant and was able to cease the dialysis treatment. Now, he sees his doctor once a year about his kidneys.

By the numbers

Below are the most recent findings from ProPublica. For more, visit http://projects.propublica.org/dialysis.

In York County:

DCA of York

24 stations

26 percent mortality (deaths per 100 patient years 2007-2010)

93 percent - Adequate removal of urea from blood

WellSpan Dialysis - York

49 stations

20 percent mortality (deaths per 100 patient years 2007-2010)

94 percent - Adequate removal of urea from blood

...