ST. LOUIS (January 31, 2022) – 2021 was truly a year of generosity, as thousands of donors and families said yes to donation. In total, 258 organ donors and 2,245 tissue donors throughout eastern Missouri, southern Illinois, and northeast Arkansas provided lifesaving gifts in 2021. Thanks to the courageous choice of these donors and their families, this marked one of the top years for donation in Mid-America Transplant’s history.
“So many families find a sense of peace when they choose donation, knowing that their loved one’s legacy will continue in another,” said Diane Brockmeier, CEO of Mid-America Transplant. “That decision is the miracle that someone has been waiting for – the ability to walk again, to see again, to be there as their children grow up. There is no greater gift than to give someone else a second chance at experiencing all of life’s moments, and it would not be possible without the generosity of donors and their families.”
2021 donations by the numbers:
- 258 donors provided 706 organs to transplant recipients. 352 kidneys, 178 livers, and 70 hearts were donated, along with 81 lungs, and 27 pancreases.
- 2,245 tissue donors provided bone, skin, heart valves, and veins that will improve the quality of life for more than 168,000 recipients
- 1144 corneas enabled vision-saving transplants
This past year also included exciting developments with the Mid-America Transplant Foundation. In April 2021, we broke ground on a larger Family House, providing low- and no-cost apartments for transplant patients and families who must travel to St. Louis for extended care before and after a transplant. The Family House construction is well underway, and we expect to welcome our first families to the new location in April.
Mid-America Transplant continues to support important research in pursuit of better outcomes and identifying measures to prevent the need for transplants. Nearly $600,000 in funding was awarded in 2021 for such research.
“Finally, we must also take a moment to celebrate the commitment of the doctors, surgeons and nurses caring for patients in our region,” said Brockmeier. “Our health care professionals continue to face countless challenges working the frontline during the pandemic, yet they still make organ and tissue donation a priority because they know the incredible impact of these lifesaving gifts.”
Read more about our work and the lasting legacy donors have created in the 2021 Impact Report.
About Mid-America Transplant
Mid-America Transplant enables adults and children to receive lifesaving gifts through organ and tissue donations. For more than 40 years, it has facilitated and coordinated organ and tissue 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 57 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. For more information, visit www.midamericatransplant.org.