• Anyone can be a potential donor regardless of age, ethnicity or medical history.
  • Most major religions in the United States support organ, eye and tissue donation and see it as the final act of love and generosity toward others. Here’s a link to learn more.
  • If you are sick or injured and admitted to the hospital, the number one priority is to save your life. Organ, eye and tissue donation can only be considered after you are deceased.
  • When you register as an organ, eye and tissue donor you are making a legal decision that will be honored after your death. It’s important to talk with your family so they can be aware and prepared to honor your decision.
  • When you register for organ, eye, and tissue donation you are registering only for life-saving or healing transplants. This is not related in any way to whole body research programs or bone marrow donation.
  • If you have not registered your decision, your loved ones will have the opportunity to make that decision on your behalf in the hospital.
  • An open-casket funeral is possible for organ, eye and tissue donors. Throughout the entire donation process, our surgical recovery team treats the donor with care, respect and dignity.
  • There is no cost to the donor or their family for organ, eye or tissue donation.
  • In order to donate organs, the patient must be on ventilated support in the hospital.
  • The donor’s family is supported in the hospital by our donation staff. They will work with your family on memory-making activities and walk you through what donation will look like for your loved one, including the time it will take in the hospital (often several days), what organs will be recovered, and what the process entails ahead of going into the operating room with our surgical recovery team. Families may decide to have something read or played before surgical recovery to honor their loved one.
  • One organ donor has the potential to save the lives of up to 8 people or heal the lives of many more through tissue donation.  
  • When you are on the waiting list for an organ, what really counts is the severity of your illness, time spent waiting, blood type, and other important medical information, not your financial status or celebrity status. In order to receive an organ, a patient needs to be on the national transplant waiting list with a transplant center.