The John C. McDonald Regional Transplant Center will join with the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency (LOPA) to mark Donate Life Month at a Donor Flag Ceremony on Monday, April 1, at 11 a.m. The ceremony will be held in the auditorium of Willis-Knighton Eye Institute, 2611 Greenwood Road, in Shreveport. A reception honoring donors will follow. Families are welcome to bring pictures of their loved ones for the Remembrance Table.

Throughout April the transplant center will raise awareness of the critical need for individuals to register as organ donors and provide the gift of life, including special days of emphasis on Willis-Knighton campuses. Donor drives will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. near the cafeteria at Willis-Knighton Medical Center (April 2), WK Pierremont Health Center (April 9), Willis-Knighton South and the Center for Women’s Health (April 11), WK Bossier Health Center (April 16), and WK Rehabilitation Institute (April 23). Staff from the transplant center will offer information about organ donation and encourage people to become organ donors.

Currently, more than 124,000 men, women and children are listed on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) transplant waiting list in the United States, 2,052 of those in Louisiana. Most people in Louisiana awaiting organ donation need kidneys, which can come from deceased or living donors since every person is born with two of them. One donor can potentially save up to 9 people’s lives.

The John C. McDonald Regional Transplant Center at Willis-Knighton, which performed its first transplant in 1989, is the only center north of New Orleans. To date, there have been 2,000 transplants performed by the center. Patients in our region can undergo liver, kidney and pancreas transplants at John C. McDonald Regional Transplant Center in Shreveport, allowing them to be close to their family and friends. To learn more about the center, visit wkhs.com/transplant.