Organ Transplant Waiting List Statistics

The following organ transplant waiting list statistics demonstrates the generosity of our regional community. In 2020, a record number of heroic organ donors saved lives through organ donation and transplantation and thousands more lives were saved and healed through tissue donation in Wyoming. Not only did those transplants heal trauma and disease and restore sight to patients, but they saved the lives of many of our community members. Despite that, there is still a great need for transplants – if you aren’t registered, sign up to be an organ, eye and tissue donor and provide hope to our community.

• 215 heroic organ donors in 2020 made 622 lifesaving transplants possible in our area.
• A record 1,899 heroic tissue donors provided THOUSANDS of lifesaving and healing gifts to patients suffering from trauma or disease in 2020 in our area.
• A record 2,467 eye donors in our area in 2020 resulted in 2,280 sight-restoring corneal transplants.
• Nearly 150 people in Wyoming are currently waiting for a lifesaving transplant.

• An average of 95 organ transplants take place every day in the United States.
• 39,034 organ transplants were performed using organs from both deceased and living donors in 2020, marking the tenth consecutive record-setting year for transplants in the U.S.
• In 2020, 85% (33,309) of the transplants performed involved organs from deceased donors. Living donor transplants accounted for the remaining 15% (5,725).
• Organs were recovered from 12,587 deceased organ donors in 2020, a 6% increase over 2019 and continues a ten-year trend of record-setting donation.
• In the 32-year span from 1988 through 2020, the total number of organ transplants exceeded 835,000 nationwide.
• Every 10 minutes someone is added to the national organ transplant waiting list.
• More than 100,000 people nationwide are currently waiting for a life saving transplant.

Once a healthcare provider determines that a patient requires an organ transplant, they are placed on the organ transplant waiting list until an organ becomes available. The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) is the national organization that sets allocation policy and matches donors to recipients. The UNOS allocation criteria is a combination of donor and transplant candidate medical data and the location of the transplant and donor hospitals.

Donor Alliance ensures that lifesaving organ and tissue donations are safely and swiftly recovered and then received by those in our community waiting for a lifesaving transplant. The Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank facilitates cornea donation in most of Wyoming. The Utah Lions Eye Bank recovers and facilitates cornea donation in Sweetwater, Uinta and Lincoln counties.