The John C. McDonald Regional Transplant Center at Willis-Knighton will join Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency (LOPA) to mark Donate Life Month with a donor flag raising ceremony on Monday, April 10.

The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. in the auditorium of Willis-Knighton Eye Institute, 2611 Greenwood Road. The Donate Life flag will be raised at the entrance of Willis-Knighton Medical Center at 10:30 a.m. A reception to honor donors will follow at the Eye Institute.

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 11), WK Pierremont Health Center (April 12), WK Bossier Health Center (April 13) and Willis-Knighton South (April 14).

Currently more than 104,000 men, women and children are listed on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) transplant waiting list in the United States, more than 2,000 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 eight people’s lives.

The John C. McDonald Regional Transplant Center at Willis-Knighton, which performed its first transplant in 1989, is the only transplant center north of New Orleans. To date, 2,160 transplants have been performed by the center. Patients in our region can receive 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