Philadelphia, PA – In 2024, Gift of Life Donor Program coordinated the most life-saving kidney transplants of any U.S. organ procurement organization (OPO) for the ninth consecutive year thanks to groundbreaking clinical advances, staff dedication and expertise, strong hospital partnerships and its generous community. Marking 50-years of leading the nation in saving lives, Gift of Life also achieved one of the highest rates of kidney placement in the U.S., helping address the critical shortage of these most-needed organs for transplant.
Headquartered in Philadelphia, Gift of Life is the federally designated OPO that serves the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware. Gift of Life ranks in the highest performing tier of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for donation and transplant metrics.
In 2024, Gift of Life:
- Coordinated 947 kidney transplants, the most in the U.S. for the ninth year in a row, which brings Gift of Life’s total number to 21,772, the most kidney transplants overall in U.S. history.
- Achieved one of the highest kidney placement rates in the U.S., pursuing every opportunity for transplantation of these precious gifts. In addition, Gift of Life supported organ placement, preservation and transportation services for kidneys from outside its region.
Gift of Life’s leadership in kidney donation continues 50 years of embracing groundbreaking clinical protocols and advancing best practices in organ donation. Focused strategies to maximize the quantity and quality of kidneys for transplant include:
- Advancing state-of-the-art organ recovery preservation technologies including Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP) that allow more organs to be transplanted.
- Using machine perfusion (pumping) to keep organs healthy and able to be transported greater distances after they are recovered from donor heroes.
- Specializing in efficient organ matching as the donor program’s kidney placement experts work with transplant centers throughout the Mid-Atlantic to provide a second chance at life to as many patients in need as possible.
This work aligns with CMS and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) initiatives to improve kidney utilization and access. A half million people in the U.S. are suffering from End-Stage Renal Disease, with 90,000 awaiting a kidney transplant. “Waiting for a kidney is hard, but it shows me how strong I can be,” said Phillip Davis, a husband, father, and assistant school principal on the waitlist. Watch Phillip’s story of courage and determination.
“We are driven by our vision to end the transplant waitlist. For 50 years, Gift of Life has led the nation in saving lives through organ donation thanks to our generous community, dedicated staff and hospital partners” said Richard D. Hasz, Jr., MFS, CPTC, president and CEO of Gift of Life Donor Program, Gift of Life Transplant Foundation and Gift of Life Howie’s House. “With kidney disease increasing, our challenge and our commitment are to do more. We need everyone – hospital partners, neighbors, and community leaders – to join us so we can maximize the tremendous advancements in science and technology before us. Because despite all those advancements, it takes ordinary people and fundamental human kindness to make transplant possible. Families who say ‘yes’ to donation create a heroic legacy and a future of hope for generations.”
To honor its 50 years of service, Gift of Life has launched a campaign to add 50,000 people to the donor registry to save more lives.
“Any family can suddenly find a loved one in need of a transplant to survive, with diabetes, hypertension and other illnesses that lead to organ failure increasing across our country,” Hasz said. “Fortunately, we all have the potential to save lives through donation regardless of age, health or medical history. I urge everyone to learn more at donors1.org, talk with your family and join our life-saving mission by registering as a donor today.”
Gift of Life continued to build on its legacy with 664 organ donors resulting in 1,671 organs for transplant in 2024. Overall, Gift of Life has coordinated 14,860 donors and 41,140 organs for transplant – the most of any U.S. OPO since the start of our national donation system in 1988.
As part of its commitment to advancing donation and transplantation, Gift of Life provides the broadest array of services of any OPO. This includes full-service tissue recovery, an eye bank, organ preservation and transport for living kidney donation, and a dedicated donor care center for organ recovery.
Gift of Life’s expert donation professionals collaborate closely with 124 acute care hospitals in our region.
“It is critical that every family who has the opportunity for donation is supported in doing so as part of compassionate end-of-life care for their loved one. Our Gift of Life transplant coordinators and hospital critical care teams work side by side to fulfill our shared mission of caring for donors and supporting donor families to save lives. This remarkable partnership creates a heroic legacy for each donor, provides a second chance for waitlist patients and can offer comfort and hope for the donor’s family,” said Christine Radolovic, MS, BSN, RN, Gift of Life Chief Clinical Officer.
Gift of Life recognizes hospitals for championing donation within their facilities and throughout the community with its annual Gift of Life Award. In this video, our 2024 award winner, Temple University Hospital, reflects on caring for families and their collaboration with Gift of Life.
“At Temple Health, it is part of our culture to make sure that organ donation is an integral part of end-of-life care when we’ve done everything possible for a family’s loved one and there are no other options to save them. Our physicians and nurses are proud to work with Gift of Life to provide the opportunity for donation in a caring and sensitive way,” said Temple Health Associate Vice President of Nursing Joe DiMartino, MSN, RN.
Donor heroes also transform lives through tissue donation. In 2024, Gift of Life recovered precious tissues from 2,732 donors, including 1,350 musculoskeletal donors and 2,335 cornea donors. These life-changing donations can benefit more than 139,000 people, with bone for orthopedic and sports injuries, heart valves to repair life-threatening defects, corneas to provide the gift of sight and skin for burn patients and reconstructive surgery for breast cancer patients such as Racquel Williams, community impact reporter for KYW Newsradio.
“I’m the recipient of tissue from a donor who made a selfless choice that allowed me to heal better, to have confidence and to feel better about my recovery. I’m just so grateful,” said Williams, who speaks about her experience with donation in this video.
Leadership & Innovation
Gift of Life’s pioneering use of the latest organ preservation technologies like Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP) are creating powerful legacies for families such as Rob and Katherine Kerr. Their son, Jared, suffered from health issues most of his life. When he died of complications from pneumonia at 17, the use of NRP made it possible for Jared’s heart to be donated to a young woman, Ashlen Moss. Watch the inspiring story of Jared and Ashlen.
Jared’s legacy as a donor hero will continue to impact lives; his successful donation thanks to NRP is helping expand use of this technique across the country. Gift of Life’s experience with NRP, which it calls “The Jared Effect,” includes 147 donors resulting in 220 kidneys, 75 livers, 31 hearts and 14 lungs for transplant in 2024.
Saving more lives through organ donation depends not only on scientific advances but decreasing barriers across our healthcare system. This is especially important in the Black community where people are more likely to face health conditions that increase their risk of organ failure. Gift of Life is working with partners throughout the community to address this. Initiatives include:
- In 2024, Gift of Life launched a Community Advisory Board committed to raising awareness and addressing concerns through education and community engagement in Philadelphia’s Black communities. The board, which provides a vital link between Gift of Life and Philadelphians, includes key leaders from the city, state and federal levels plus transplant recipients and the mother of an organ donor. Learn more and meet the board members.
- Gift of Life is participating in a four-year research study with Temple University’s School of Public Health to identify and address barriers to donation among Black families. The public health study, “Communicating Effectively about Donation – Improving Decisions and Outcomes with Black Americans,” will include up to 100 in-depth interviews with family decision makers to help improve OPO communication with and support for families of potential donors.
Gift of Life’s research partnerships also include working with the National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI) on the pediatric Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health to support critical research on disease processes and progression.
For more than 20 years, Gift of Life Institute has served as an international training center for organ and tissue donation professionals. The Institute’s comprehensive, interdisciplinary resources designed to increase donation outcomes include skills-based learning, continuing education, collaborative research and consulting services. Since its inception in 2004, the Institute has facilitated more than 650 workshops with all U.S. OPOs and multiple tissue banks, training over 14,000 professionals from across the U.S. and 33 countries around the world. The Institute recently developed an innovative program to meet the need for easily accessible training to increase physician knowledge and confidence in determining brain death. Through a new partnership in 2024, the Institute provided this specialized training which combines virtual reality simulation and eLearning to Howard University College of Medicine students in Washington, D.C. Read about this innovative partnership.
Transplant Pregnancy Registry International (TPRI) is the only research study in the world tracking the effects of pregnancy on transplant recipients and the effects of immunosuppressive medications on fertility and pregnancy outcomes. Many transplant recipients were warned not to attempt pregnancy in years past. TPRI has helped give organ recipients science-based information to achieve post-transplant parenthood through more than 35 years of expert research.
Since 1991, the TPRI team and its collaborators have tracked 3,242 parents and 5,688 pregnancies; celebrated more than 372 grandchildren; presented information at 584 academic forums; and written 327 publications including 91 peer-reviewed publications. Their work informs treatment guidelines, education to providers and guidance to recipients worldwide.
Transplant Foundation, the supporting affiliate of Gift of Life Donor Program, leads research and education to advance donation and transplantation around the world. It also provides grants to fund innovation, quality and safety through scientific research, social and behavioral interventions or alternate approaches to existing processes and protocols. Transplant Foundation:
- Approved 26 research initiatives for funding in recent years.
- Supported transplant recipients, living donors and donor family participation as part of Team Philadelphia at the 2024 Transplant Games of America in Birmingham, Alabama last July. Team Philly had 140 members including 46 athletes who won 125 medals! See Team Philly in action in this highlights video.
- Supports Camp Jeremy, a summer day camp filled with fun and friendship for young transplant recipients and their siblings.
- Receives critical funding from Gift of Life’s annual Donor Dash. The 27th Annual Donor Dash in April 2024, held for the first time at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, drew more than 15,000 participants, raised more than $680,000 and increased awareness about the critical need for organ donors. Experience the excitement of Dash in this highlights video.
Commitment to Supporting Families
Gift of Life’s commitment to providing a compassionate, comprehensive circle of care supports countless donor and transplant families through an array of services, programs and millions of dollars in subsidized care.
After supporting families in the hospital, Gift of Life’s continuing care includes grief counseling and special programs such as annual Life and Legacy Celebrations that honor donor heroes and their families. The organization’s 2024 Life & Legacy Celebrations were the largest ever, honoring 285 donor heroes represented by more than 850 family members and friends in attendance. View the 2024 virtual ceremony.
“The simple act of registering as an organ and tissue donor is a powerful way to fulfill our fundamental human responsibility to help others. One organ donor can save eight lives and a tissue donor can transform the lives of 100 others. Our family, friends and neighbors on the transplant waitlist are counting on us. We all have the potential to help them through donation,” said Jan L. Weinstock, Esq., Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel.
Gift of Life Howie’s House serves as a 32-room welcoming home away from home, providing temporary, affordable lodging and professional supportive services for families traveling to Philadelphia for a transplant. Since opening in 2011, the House has provided 104,249 nights of lodging, 16,748 free shuttle trips to local hospitals and additional supportive services. With community support, the House has served 374,638 meals overall, including an increase of 4,000 meals in 2024 from the previous year. Also, 403 nights of external lodging at area hotels were provided to support transplant families in 2024 when the House was at capacity.
The House’s Caregiver Lifeline Program, which provides education and support through programs such as webinars and virtual support groups for transplant patients, caregivers and professionals expanded its reach in 2024. More than 4,000 participants from most U.S. states and multiple countries attended these programs.
Gift of Life’s commitment to support transplant patients and their families throughout their journey extends beyond the House and includes grants to help those receiving care at transplant centers across its entire service area. Gift of Life has provided more than $15 million in subsidized care during the past 13 years through various initiatives supporting transplant patients and their families.
About Gift of Life Donor Program
Gift of Life Donor Program, founded in 1974 and headquartered in Philadelphia, is the federally designated organ procurement organization (OPO) for the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware serving 11.3 million people. It works with 124 acute care hospitals and 12 transplant centers in its region, as well as hundreds of transplant centers throughout the country, to provide the most comprehensive array of services available in the U.S. to the donation and transplantation community. Thanks to the generosity of its community, Gift of Life has coordinated 14,860 donors and 41,140 organs for transplant, the most of any OPO in the country since the inception of our national donation system in 1988. Overall, Gift of Life has coordinated more than 62,000 organs and more than two million tissue transplants since its founding. One organ donor can save the lives of up to eight people and a tissue donor can improve the lives of 100 others. In honor of its 50 years of saving lives, Gift of Life is rallying the community to sign up 50,000 more organ donors and provide hope to the thousands waiting for a transplant. Learn more and sign up at donors1.org.