ST. LOUIS (Jan. 29, 2025) – In its 50th anniversary year, Mid-America Transplant marked its greatest year for organ and tissue donation, thanks to the inspiring decisions of donor heroes and their families. In total, 317 organ donors and 2,632 tissue donors provided 891 lifesaving organs for transplant and gave more than 197,000 people improved quality of life through tissue transplants.
“We are grateful to all the families who entrusted us with their loved one’s legacy, and our employees, hospitals, and partners who make this work possible,” said Kevin Lee, president and CEO at Mid-America Transplant. “It is an honor and a privilege to steward donor gifts and give others a second chance at life, which is why we will continue to innovate and improve how we work to make even more transplants possible in 2025.”
The rise in organ and tissue donations at Mid-America Transplant is attributed to innovative approaches in collaboration with hospital partners. By allowing families to opt for donation upon a declaration of circulatory death (DCD) (when the heart stops beating, as opposed to only a brain death declaration) has greatly expanded the number of potential organ donors. DCD donors now account for half of all organ donors at Mid-America Transplant. Furthermore, the use of a process called normothermic profusion (NRP) to circulate blood through organs before recovery has increased both the quantity and quality of livers and kidneys for transplant.
2024 donations by the numbers:
- Mid-America Transplant approached more families than ever before for donation, with a 6% increase in organ donor authorizations and a 5% increase in tissue donor authorizations compared to prior years.
- 317 organ donors provided 891 lifesaving organs. This marked the most organ donors ever and a 28% increase in organs transplanted.
- Transplant patients received more kidneys (428) and livers (215) from Mid-America Transplant than ever before. Additional organs transplanted included 85 hearts, 136 lungs, 25 pancreases and 2 intestines.
- 2,632 tissue donors accounted for record-breaking numbers of bone, femoral vein and nerve donations. These and other tissues procured will greatly improve the quality of life for more than 197,000 people.
- 1,727 corneas enabled life-changing vision transplants for people around the world, a 10% increase compared to the previous highest year.
Mid-America Transplant marked other noteworthy milestones in 2024. They welcomed the 500th transplant recipient to stay at the Family House and hosted a total of 129 patients in 2024, with an average stay of 56 days. In addition, Mid-America Transplant facilitated a successful liver transplant from a 98-year-old man, making him the oldest organ donor in U.S. history.
More than 100,000 people are waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant. It only takes two minutes to register to be an organ and tissue donor. Register today at SayYesGiveLife.org.
About Mid-America Transplant
Mid-America Transplant enables adults and children to receive lifesaving gifts through organ and tissue donations. For more than 50 years, it has facilitated and coordinated organ, tissue and eye donation, and now serves 84 counties covering eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and northeast Arkansas that together are home to 4.7 million people. It saves lives by providing expert and compassionate care for organ donors, recipients and families, and transforms the clinical processes required to recover and transplant organs and tissues. Mid-America Transplant was the first such organization in the U.S. to use an in-house operating room for organ recovery and pioneered innovative models of increasing donor registry enrollment in an effort to provide organs and tissues to those in need. It is federally designated as one of 56 such organizations in the U.S., and is the first organ procurement organization to be recognized as a recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence, and the only two-time recipient. For more information, visit www.midamericatransplant.org.