JAMESTOWN – UMPC Chautauqua will host a “transplant townhall” next week to talk more about the medical group’s kidney transplant services and how Jamestown’s medical center is now connected to new services.
Aimee Hagerty, UPMC Hamot’s Transplant Administer, said that kidney donations are generally made in two ways.
“There would be somebody who would, for one reason or another, be determined to either be brain dead or death after cardiac arrest who is willing to donate their organs,” explained Hagerty. “When a person comes up as a transplant recipient; that is one pathway to receive an organ.”
Hagerty said the second way, and more preferred way, is via a living donor, where someone gives an organ to someone on the waitlist.
“A lot of times those are people who are either relatives, a friend, or somebody who hears about somebody in need of a kidney and wants to donate one of their kidney’s to that person,” said Hagerty.
The “transplant townhall” hopes to educate community members about not only the process of organ donations but the need that Hagerty said is evident in our community.
Attendees will meet the team of transplant experts and hear from a patient panel who will share their personal experiences with living donations.
The “transplant townhall” will take place at 6 p.m., Thursday, April 18, in the UPMC Chautauqua’s auditorium.
For more information visit www.upmc.com or to register call 814-877-3625 by April 17.
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