Organ and Tissue Donation

Donate Life Month

At present, more than 21,000 California residents are waiting to receive life-saving hearts, livers, lungs, kidneys, other organs and tissues. Yet, there are not enough donors to support the need in California. Currently, over 121,000 individuals are on the national waiting list, while 19 people die every day waiting for an organ transplant.

April is Donate Life Month – a time to celebrate life and recognize the generosity of those who have saved and enhanced other lives through organ and tissue donation. This month, Hoag wants for you and your family to become educated about organ and tissue donation.

California has the largest number of patients on a state wait list for an organ or tissue donation – more than 21,000 residents are listed on the United Network for Organ Sharing waiting list. Of those, more than 17,000 are waiting for a kidney, the organ most in demand due to high rates of hypertension and diabetes. The transplant list has people of all ages and all backgrounds, among them more than 360 children under the age of 17.

During Donate Life Month, take the opportunity to learn about the need in your community, and what this one simple step could mean in the future for someone else. An organ donor’s last act in this world is to extend the life of someone else.

Learn more about organ and tissue donation. (link to: https://register.donatelifecalifornia.org)

Hoag Celebrates Life

Throughout the year, Hoag in collaboration with OneLegacy, celebrates life with a “Tree of Life” memorial in honor of its organ donors. Families of organ donors are invited to these special events, where they are presented with a certificate and a replica of the leaf bearing the name of their loved one on the Tree of Life.

Installed in 2011, the Tree of Life to provides a place for families to visit and reflect on the gift of life by loved ones, and to inspire others to become registered donors.

Hoag also honors their tissue donors with the “Book of Life.” Throughout the year, Hoag and OneLegacy celebrate and thank the families of these tissue donors by adding the names of the donors to the Book of Life, that resides just outside the chapel year round for families, patients and guests to view. Hoag has the largest number of tissue donors of any non-trauma hospital in Orange County, with 476 consented donors between 2007 and 2017.

Register as a Donor

At Hoag, we encourage our staff, patients and families to educate themselves about organ and tissue donation, and consider registering as a donor. Registration is simple, and can be completed online. To learn more about organ and tissue donation, please visit Donate Life California.