Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announces expanded support for live organ donors during visit to AdventHealth Orlando

Living organ donors will now have additional support and resources available to them as they give the gift of life to transplant recipients. Alex Azar, U.S. Secretary of Health and Humans Services, made the announcement of expanded support for living organ donors during a recent visit to AdventHealth Orlando.

The new measures include compensation for lost wages, childcare and elder care through the Health Resources and Services Administration. Across the country, nearly 114,000 patients are on the transplant waitlist in hopes of getting a donor for a possibly lifesaving and life-changing organ.

Secretary Azar, who was joined by Thomas Engels, administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, also met with leaders from the AdventHealth Transplant Institute to discuss ways to better care for patients with kidney disease.

The only comprehensive transplant center in central Florida, the AdventHealth Transplant Institute is also the only current living donor kidney transplant program in the region. Founded in 1973, the institute has performed more than 4,000 kidney transplants.