It was an honor to celebrate Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Transplant Center’s 10,000th transplant. Guests were welcomed to the event with custom floral organs created by the talented artist, Camila Carlow. The gala proceeded with moving speeches and a moving light display to showcase the successful transplants and to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
The Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Transplant Center’s surgical and medical teams performed their 10,000th adult organ transplant in January of 2019. The transplant center, which recently celebrated 55 years of life-saving transplants, is the 12th largest in the nation (by volume) and is renowned for excellent patient outcomes.
The 10,000th adult organ transplanted was a kidney from a living donor. The recipient who received the organ was identified through the hospital’s internal paired exchange program. Sometimes a patient has a willing donor, but their organs are not compatible. The transplant center compares other donor/recipient pairs experiencing the same situation until they find the perfect match for a paired exchange. Barnes-Jewish’s transplant center also participates in national paired exchanges, and has participated in some of the largest transplant chains in the country.
