OneLegacy Helped to Save and Heal More Than 100,000 Lives in 2009

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- OneLegacy, the non-profit, federally designated organ and tissue recovery organization serving the seven-county greater Los Angeles area, announced the recovery of nearly 2,400 combined organ and tissue donors in 2009 which helped to save and heal more than 100,000 lives in Southern California and other U.S. regions.

Working in concert with more than 200 hospital partners, OneLegacy coordinated the recovery of 1,182 transplanted organs from 382 donors in 2009. OneLegacy also achieved its highest-ever organ donation consent rate of 69 percent, up two points from last year and 12 points from 2005.

"Less than 10 years ago, only half of families approached in hospitals gave consent for donation. Now, a full two-thirds of the families elect donation when given the chance to do so," said Tom Mone, CEO and executive vice president at OneLegacy. "This upward trend is especially important given that we have been experiencing a downward trend in the number of possible donors. That makes every donation opportunity even more important – and every 'yes' that much more precious."

Registered donors and families continued to support tissue donation in 2009, with a record 2,014 donors offering skin used for burn dressings, bone to repair fractures and to prevent amputation, heart valves to repair life-threatening defects, tendons to repair major knee injuries, veins for cardiac bypass surgery, and corneas to end blindness. More than 1,000 donors of corneas gave sight to 1,381 people in need.

"Most tissue recovered by OneLegacy returns to our area for medical procedures," said Mone. "Given that corneas, bone and skin from a single donor can save and heal up to 50 people, we are proud to contribute to the wellness of so many in our diverse communities."

Notably, through the first three quarters of 2009, approximately one in seven organ and tissue donors recovered by OneLegacy were registered donors who had signed up with the Donate Life California Organ & Tissue Donor Registry prior to death. The state donor registry, which is co-managed by OneLegacy and the state's three other organ recovery agencies, has enrolled more than six million registered donors since opening in 2005, with 30,000 joining each week.

"Thanks to the generosity of donors and their families, and the skill of healthcare professionals, waiting lists for all organs except kidneys are static or declining, while tissue donation is meeting our community's needs," said Mone. "However, the need for donated organs and tissues is ongoing, and we will continue to ensure that donor families and transplant recipients, their families and our community as a whole, benefit from the gift of organ, eye and tissue donation."

OneLegacy is the non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ and tissue donation in the seven-county greater Los Angeles area. With more than 200 hospitals, 12 transplant centers and a diverse population of 19 million, OneLegacy is the largest organ and tissue recovery organization in the world.

Those wishing to make the commitment to donate may register online at www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org or its Spanish-language counterpart, www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org. For more information, call OneLegacy at (800) 786-4077 or visit www.onelegacy.org.

Source: OneLegacy data.  Figures for 2009 may vary from UNOS, CMS, and AOPO data due to varying organ count methodologies that result in aggregate variance of 2 to 6 organs.

OneLegacy service area: Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

SOURCE OneLegacy