ST. LOUIS (January 23, 2024) – Thanks to the inspiring decisions of donors and their families, 2023 was a milestone year for donation across the region. In total, 299 organ donors and 2,697 tissue donors provided lifesaving gifts in 2023.
“Behind each donor is the story of a family who chose hope in the midst of their grief. We are so grateful that those families entrusted us with their loved one’s legacy,” said Kevin Lee, president and CEO of Mid-America Transplant. “We are committed to being the best possible steward of these gifts. I am proud of our staff who support donor families and work with community stakeholders so more organs and tissues are available to those in need.
Over the past five years, Mid-America Transplant has been fortunate to see increases in the number of individuals served through donation across our region. This outstanding performance reflects the generosity of donors and their families, coupled with the organization’s commitment to performance excellence and continuous improvement.
2023 donations by the numbers:
- Mid-America Transplant approached more families than ever before for donation, with a 12% increase for potential organ donors and a 5% increase for tissue donors. Additionally, more families than ever said yes to donation, with a 10% increase in organ donor authorizations and an 11% increase in tissue donor authorizations compared to prior years.
- 299 organ donors provided 801 lifesaving organs. This marked the most donors (7% increase) ever and the second-highest year for organ transplants.
- Transplant patients received more kidneys (422) and hearts (85) from Mid-America Transplant than ever before. Additional organs transplanted included 170 livers, 104 lungs, 19 pancreases and 1 intestine.
- 2,697 tissue donors accounted for an 11% increase compared to Mid-America Transplant’s previous highest year.
- Milestones in tissue donations included a 30% increase in heart valves (417), a 17% increase in bone donors (1,720) and a 4% increase in skin donors (1,866), compared to Mid-America Transplant’s previous performance. These and other tissues procured will greatly improve the quality of life for more than 200,000 people.
- 1,563 corneas enabled life-changing vision transplants for people around the world, a 17% increase compared to the previous highest year.
About Mid-America Transplant
Mid-America Transplant enables adults and children to receive lifesaving gifts through organ and tissue donations. For 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.