Over 63% of all organ recipients in BC received a kidney from either a deceased or living donor in 2024.
According to BC Transplant, 481 transplants occurred province-wide with 20 of those procedures involving residents living in Northern Health.
Dr. Sean Keenan is the provincial medical director of donation services for BC Transplant.
“Most of our referrals come from hospitals because most often, organ donors, especially deceased ones are in ICU or on life-support. Work over the past number of years with hospitals and ICU’s to sort of have them recognized when somebody could potentially be an organ donor.”
“The majority of transplants were kidney transplants at 309 and that is a combination of deceased and living donors followed by 92 liver transplants, 47 lung transplants and 25 heart transplants.”
Keenan added anyone who wishes to become an organ donor should consult with their family before following through.
“If you are interested in the idea and are talking to more people you can check in with our website and if you do decide to register it is really a good idea to let your family know and discuss with them.”
Referrals of potential donors to BC Transplant have grown quite a bit since 2016 going from 462 to 1,119.
The number of transplant recipient’s in northern health has declined from 39 in 2021 to 20 last year.
Out of the 118 deceased organ donors in the province, six were from Northern Health.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
