Midwest Transplant Network continues to be one of the leading Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) in the country.

MTN ranks in the top quartile nationally among other OPOs, as measured by the HRSA Organ Donation and Transplantation Collaborative, with a conversion rate of 80 percent. MTN’s success is due to high standards, implementing important best practices (such as focused hospital services using data to drive decision-making), and developing and maintaining strong and effective relationships with partner hospitals and medical examiners to achieve outstanding results.

There is a significant need for organ donation across the region:

• Currently, there are nearly 2,000 people in Missouri and 1,000 people in Kansas awaiting a lifesaving transplant.

You can consent to be an organ and tissue donor by signing up with your state registry. In Missouri, donatelifemissouri.com allows each person to authorize consent for donation by inclusion in the state registry. In Kansas, authorize consent at the state DMV by having the heart symbol placed on your driver’s license or join the registry at donatelifekansas.com.

And across the country:

• Nearly 120,000 men, women and children currently await lifesaving organ transplants. Tens of thousands more benefit from a life-enhancing tissue or cornea transplant each year.
• Every 10 minutes another name is added to the national waiting list. That's 144 people in one 24-hour period (52,560 every year).
• An average of 18 people per day (or 6,570 per year) die due to a lack of available organs for transplant.
• In 2011, there were 8,127 deceased organ donors and 6,017 living organ donors, resulting in 28,535 organ transplants.
• According to research, 98 percent of all adults have heard about organ donation, and 86 percent have heard of tissue donation.
• 90 percent of Americans say they support donation, but only 30 percent know the steps needed to become a donor.

One donor can:

• Save or enhance the lives of more than 50 people.
• Release two people from dialysis treatments by donating kidneys.
• Give sight to two people by donating corneas.
• Help repair injured bones and joints by donating bones.

More statistics and information can be found at unos.org or donatelife.net.