LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Continuing a five-year growth trend that has seen ongoing increases in the number of organ, eye and tissue donors, OneLegacy announced today a new one-month record of organs and tissues recovered and transplanted.
With 55 organ donors, 168 lifesaving organ transplants, and 281 tissue donors in May, OneLegacy saw a 28 percent increase in organ donors, 20 percent increase in organs transplanted, and nearly 11 percent more tissues recovered, as compared with the same numbers from May 2017. This milestone continues the growth trend for OneLegacy, thanks to the combined efforts of OneLegacy’s professional staff, hospitals and generous donors and families.
As the federally designated nonprofit organ procurement organization in charge of organ, eye, and tissue donation and recovery in the greater Los Angeles area, these record numbers translate into more lives saved and healed in Southern California, thanks to the power of donation.
“At OneLegacy we continue to pioneer clinical, technical and social change innovations to end deaths on the waitlists and give waiting recipients a second chance at life and health,” said Tom Mone, chief executive officer at OneLegacy. “With 20 people dying each day nationwide while waiting for a lifesaving organ donation, our work remains vitally important as is our commitment to helping our community increase lifesaving and healing donation.”
OneLegacy donation professionals work in conjunction with medical and patient care staff at more than 200 hospitals, 11 transplant centers, seven sheriff-coroner departments, and hundreds of funeral homes. Additionally, a robust team of volunteers and public education staff actively connect with local communities, with a goal of encouraging donor registration and sharing the importance of organ, eye and tissue donation.
In addition to their record-setting performance during May 2018, OneLegacy has reached a new milestone for their recently opened Donor Recovery Center in Redlands with 102 recovered tissue donors, according to OneLegacy Chief Operating Officer Prasad Garimella. “As we continue working with local hospitals in the Inland Empire, we look forward to increasing the number of organ and tissue recoveries taking place at our Redlands facilities.”
OneLegacy’s continued increase in organ and tissue donation has been possible thanks to OneLegacy’s best practices and innovative electronic donor record system (digitalDONOR) as well as the organization’s significant investment in a highly skilled team of 350 donation professionals, who bring compassion and dedication to the mission of OneLegacy.
Currently, nearly 115,000 Americans are waiting to receive lifesaving hearts, livers, lungs, kidneys and pancreas; but there are simply not enough donors to meet the growing demand, thus making the work of OneLegacy more important than ever.
About OneLegacy
OneLegacy is the nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ, eye and tissue donation in seven counties in Southern California: Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Kern. Serving more than 200 hospitals, 11 transplant centers and a diverse population of nearly 20 million, OneLegacy is the largest organ, eye and tissue recovery organization in the world. For more information, visit onelegacy.org.
