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New England Donor Services

ANNUAL REPORT 2024

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At New England Donor Services, our commitment to improve and innovate continued in 2024 with life-saving results as we pursue new technologies, invest in staff development and enhance the processes that drive our work each day. The result is another exceptional year of record performance.

Through the dedication of our 350 employees, NEDS set a new milestone for the organization in 2024. We were honored to coordinate organ and tissue

donation from 2,267 individuals who became donors. The decision of these individuals and their families offer hope and healing to patients in need of transplant. We extend our deepest gratitude to all who support our mission our partners in hospitals and transplant centers, our dedicated volunteers, and, above all, the donors and their families whose generosity makes these life-saving gifts possible.

Last year, NEDS grew to become the third largest Organ Procurement Organization in the nation by donation activity with 648 organ donors and 1,570 transplants; our best year ever. As we grow, we are mindful that ever since our founding in 1968, we have played an important role as a national leader and vocal proponent of improvement, progress, and modernization to create what is now the world's leading organ donation and transplant system. We continue this role today through our active engagement with the policymakers and stakeholders whose decisions will have long-term consequences for donation, transplant, and for the patients we serve.

As the landscape of donation and transplantation evolves, NEDS remains prepared and resolved to meet the growing need to continue to save even more lives.

Alexandra K. Glazier, Esq.

President & CEO

OrganDonation

In 2024, NEDS reached a new high in organ donation with a record 648 donors in New England resulting in 1,570 life-saving transplants, an 18% rise in donors, and a 12% increase in organs transplanted from NEDS donors compared to the previous year.

Through the continual improvement of our organ donation process and investment in new tools, technology, and personnel, we have proven we can expand the pool of medically suitable donors and the number of organs acceptable for transplant. Among our successful 2024 strategies was engaging with families earlier in end-of-life discussions in cases of nonsurvivable brain injuries. Providing this donation information to families earlier in the process helps ensure that donation does not interfere with a family’s expectations around their end-oflife decision-making. Earlier engagement with families has increased authorization rates, especially among potential Donation after Circulatory Death (DCD) donors.

Notably, DCD donors are an increasing percentage of our donors each year, growing from 40% of all organ donors in 2023 to 53% of donors in 2024. In fact, last year was the first time in NEDS history that the number of DCD donors was greater than the number of brain-dead donors.

Also in 2024, NEDS increased the use of state-of-the-art organ perfusion devices and techniques to improve the function of donated organs prior to transplant. Abdominal normothermic regional perfusion (A-NRP) is a technique used where warm, oxygenated blood is perfused through a deceased donor's abdominal organs prior to surgical recovery to keep them viable for transplantation. The utilization of this innovation has grown from 7 organ donations where A-NRP was used in 2023 to 200 organ recoveries where A-NRP was used in 2024. A-NRP can both increase the number of organs available for transplant and also improve recipient-patient outcomes by improving the organ’s function prior to transplantation.

NEDS now has four, full-time organ recovery surgeons on staff. They are expert at the surgical recovery of organs for transplant, ensuring a consistency of practice that can result in improved organ quality and increased efficiency and coordination. The rapid availability of this highly skilled surgical team ensures that no potential donations are missed due to the unavailability of a qualified surgeon.

Tissue Donation

Last year, the NEDS Tissue Donation Services team recovered tissue from 1,840 donors, resulting in over 100,000 life-saving and healing tissue transplants. These gifts, such as skin, bone, heart valves, tendons, veins, cartilage, and cornea, are utilized in medical procedures that significantly improve recipients’ quality of life, including skin for post-mastectomy breast reconstruction, tendon for knee injury repair, and cornea to restore sight. Over 2 million tissue transplants occur annually in the United States, and NEDS is proud to play an essential role in making them possible.

As the system of tissue recovery in the U.S. comes near to fully meeting the needs of patients in a timely way with limited waiting time, NEDS focuses on continually improving upon the quality of grafts and the efficiency with which they are recovered. Last year, NEDS’ TDS team was recognized with two national awards from our tissue processing partners: the Partnership Excellence Award for Cardiovascular Recovery and Quality from LifeNet and the 2024 Overall Program Excellence Award - Excellence in Acceptance Rates from Evergen.

NEDS is expanding our cooperative work with state Medical Examiner Offices to offer the opportunity of tissue donation in more instances where a hospital may not be involved. Typically, most referrals for potential tissue donation originate from hospitals; however, last year NEDS received approximately 5,000 non-hospital referrals directly from medical examiners, as well as additional referrals from scene deaths referred by emergency medical personnel. NEDS now has active non-hospital referral programs in three states, with expansion to additional states in 2025.

Research & Data

NEDS expanded our internal research capacity in 2024 with the addition of a Director of Data Research and Insight with over 30 years of experience in the study of donation and transplant. In doing so, we have created a framework to support a continuous pipeline of research and publications on issues of importance to the donation community on such important topics as donor authorization, donor registration through state motor vehicle offices, donor family approaches, and the accuracy of regulatory metrics.

Knowledge gained is shared through academic and clinical publications, presentations at national meetings and conferences, and, most importantly, the findings are shared internally as a regular part of NEDS’ dedication to data-informed strategies to grow donation and transplant.

These investigations and studies develop a body of work that underlies our improvement efforts based on sound data, continuous measurement, and benchmarking. Much of the research can also provide national policymakers with the accurate information necessary to drive wise policy choices.

Study: Racial Equity in Family Approach for Patients Medically Suitable for Deceased Organ Donation. Critical Care Medicine, September 19, 2024

Method:

Data from 10 OPOs in 8 OPTN regions, accounting for 26% of all deceased donor organs recovered in the U.S. All ventilated referrals in their Donation Service Area (DSA) between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2022.

Conclusions:

In largest and most geographically representative study of family approach rates, the analysis of contemporary OPO practices shows equitable access to organ donation opportunity. Findings further highlight the efforts of skilled OPO staff who ensure fairness in the opportunity to make an informed choice about organ donation.

Public Affairs & Community Outreach

NEDS was engaged with the community in a year full of public activities designed to advance understanding of donation and transplantation and to inspire residents to register as donors.

Through our events, NEDS energizes thousands of our volunteers and supporters to deliver the Donate Life message to the community. Our National Donate Life Month celebrations across six states saw community and state capitol gatherings adorned in blue and green, with local and state governments making proclamations and raising Donate Life flags to recognize our lifesaving and healing cause.

Our signature Blue and Green Walk/5Ks in Connecticut and Massachusetts, first-ever golf outing and online remembrance ceremonie f d f ili d i f l moments for thousands of people and their Outreach to media was our best year ever w radio and TV stories, 216 of which featured