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What is living donation?

In living donation, a healthy person donates an organ (usually a kidney) to someone whose health depends on receiving it. Living donors give the gift of life.

Clark Kensinger

Why should you be a living donor?

Surgeons view a screen together during a procedure

The need is great

Someone is added to the national organ transplant list every 9 minutes.
A doctor discusses diagnosis and next steps with patient

Save more than one life

If your blood type is incompatible with your loved one, you can still save a life—maybe two!
A couple hikes with trekking poles

Maintain a healthy life

There are risks with any surgery, but with living donation, you can still lead a long, healthy life.

Most insurance companies will approve and cover the costs of a living donation, so you shouldn’t have any expenses related to evaluation, surgery, hospitalization or immediate post-operative care.

Recovery is quick! New minimally invasive surgical techniques make it easier for donors to recover. Most kidney donors are back to work within two weeks.

Fill out a health questionnaire!

Stats

106,000

people in the United States are currently waiting for a life-saving organ transplant. 2,800 fellow Georgians are on a Kidney Transplant waiting list.

1 in 3

living donors are not biologically related to the recipient.

6,000

living donations happen each year.

Living donor program resources

Meet Troy and his hero, Reeshard.

Troy’s kidney disease could only be cured with a transplant, and he needed a donation to end cycles of fatigue and days every week at the dialysis clinic. Find out what happened when one of his gaming friends stepped up to become the hero Troy needed.

Living Donor Circle of Excellence

Piedmont Healthcare is proud to be a member of the American Society of Transplantation’s (AST) Living Donor Circle of Excellence program. The Living Donor Circle of Excellence recognizes companies that have policies to support the wages of employees who become living donors.

Ready to be extraordinary?

See if you are eligible by filling out a questionnaire.