Clinical Services

Saving lives through organ and tissue donation and transplantation is a 24 hour, seven day-per week responsibility. On average, 77 transplants are performed in the United States every day. As the stewards of the precious gifts of donation, that make these transplants possible, OPOs have clinical staff available at all times to work with families and hospitals to honor the donation decisions of patients.

Clinical services for organ donation include the compassionate and professional individuals whose job it is to support the donor’s family at the time of their loved one’s generous donation. They also manage the clinical aspects of the process, such as working with the hospital staff to maintain the donor’s organ function, coordinating with UNOS to impartially match the donor’s organs with waiting recipients, and coordinating the organ recovery surgery.

If an OPO manages tissue donation in their area, their clinical services will also include highly-trained specialists who recover tissue for transplantation. Recovered tissue is sent to the OPO’s tissue partners who prepare the grafts to be returned to the community for life-saving and healing surgeries.

For more information on the process of donation, click here.