Michigan’s donation success continues to mirror national trend
Gift of Life Michigan had another record year in 2023.
The state’s organ and tissue donation program helped a record 578 people become organ donors and 1,858 give the gift of tissue last year, saving hundreds of lives and healing tens of thousands more.
The 2023 figures represent a significant 25% increase in organ donors over the previous record in 2022 and a 2% increase in tissue donors.
The records came as Gift of Life continued to hire more staff, spend more time on-site with potential donors and their families, and expand efforts to grow the Michigan Organ Donor Registry, which increased by 213,000 sign-ups.
Education and outreach
Ambitious efforts to help more residents register as donors continued last year. Outreach in schools also ramped up. Key investment in the All of Us education program provided important information about donation and transplantation to a record number of high school students in a record number of schools (362).
Community relations coordinators and public education specialists gave 1,092 presentations to 33,649 students across the state.
Marketing
The Check Your Heart campaign resulted in more than 53 million impressions and continued to exceed platform benchmarks for engagement and click-through rates last year.
The campaign helped grow the Donor Registry in 2023.
Clinical successes
The organization looked at metrics surrounding critical aspects of the donation process to refine our practices and save more lives.
Clinical teams also worked with donor hospitals to ensure their referrals were timely, which increased our ability to consistently be on-site to evaluate patients for donation potential.
Gift of Life teams also devoted more attention to honoring the donation decisions of registered patients at the end of life. This has helped fulfill those wishes through advocacy for the donor’s choice while supporting their families through the process.
Nationwide trends
Last year was significant for organ transplants nationwide with more than 46,000 made possible by generous living and deceased donors. That surpassed the record of 42,800 set in 2022.
More than 10,000 liver transplants were performed for the first time and the country reached a milestone with more than 10,000 Black patients receiving organ transplants.
With the national waiting list still at more than 100,000 and about 2,500 in Michigan, the urgency remains despite significant gains in Michigan and elsewhere.
President and CEO Dorrie Dils said records show progress, but patients continue to wait and thousands more linger on kidney dialysis.
“Lives are at stake and we get up every morning knowing that our work is for those patients depending on us to fulfill the decisions of donors so their lives might be saved.”
