CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — A new state of the art organ donation center has opened in Chapel Hill.
The Honor Bridge Donor Care Center will save lives and facilitate transplants for patients across the state. Apart from hospitals, the new center is the first place in North Carolina where transplant teams can perform operations to recover donated organs.
Medical experts hope that the new facility can help facilitate more donations and increase the efficiency of the process. Leaders also hope that the center can help free up hospital space by treating patients who need a transplant in this new designated space.
“We continue to do testing and stabilize the donor and everything we need to do before they’re brought into the operating room several hours later,” said Danielle Niedfeldt, president and CEO of HonorBridge. “Currently we’re dependent on hospital ICUs for this.”
The new space is specifically designed for patients who are on life support during the organ donation process. The center can also allow for multiple transplant teams to work simultaneously in the same operating rooms, increasing efficiency in the process.
“Our timing is so sensitive for organ donation,” said Niedfeldt. “A lot has to happen in a short period of time.”
Last year the organization helped saved 750 lives. For more information on organ donation visit Honor Bridge’s website or the NC DMV’s website.