Las Palmas Medical Center raises awareness on critical need for kidney transplants in El Paso
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Las Palmas Medical Center is raising awareness about the importance of kidney transplants as April marks National Donate Life Month. Kidney donations are in critical need in the United States, with over 100,000 people in need of a transplant.
According to Dr. Jennifer George, a specialist in general and abdominal transplant surgery at Las Palmas Medical Center, kidney patients make up for 85% of organs needed for transplant. Dr. George emphasizes the need for donors “Donation is extremely important for helping those patients who are suffering with kidney failure and who are spending their time on dialysis,” she told ABC-7.
Las Palmas Medical Center, the only kidney transplant center in the region, has completed 446 kidney transplants, with approximately 80 of them from living donors.
Dr. George says the procedure is minimally invasive and emphasizes that their team's priority and commitment is to ensure donors have a safe and swift recovery, “Some people return to work after two weeks, but everyone's different. You know, there are a few restrictions that you'll have for the first few weeks, but then after that you can work, exercise, go back to your normal activities,” she told ABC-7.
Del Sol Medical Center is hosting a seminar today to provide guidance and information to potential donors. Medical professionals will be available to answer questions, along with donors who will share their personal testimonies.
The event is scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in Classroom E (a hospital representative will meet you in the lobby and escort you to Classroom E). This seminar offers an opportunity for El Pasoans to learn more about the donation process and its impact on both donors and recipients.
"It's just fantastic to be involved in the living donor aspect," Dr. George expressed, "You see children who love their parents and want to spend many more years with them."
For more information about donating you can click here.
