State's first organ donation center to open at Rush University hospital

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Illinois' first hospital-based organ donation center will begin operations on Thursday, and CBS News Chicago got an exclusive sneak peek at the new setup that could save hundreds of lives a year.

The beeping inside Rush University Medical Center is about to intensify. In a few weeks, they'll be very busy, according to transplant surgeon Dr. Edie Chan, who is in charge of the new Gift of Hope Organ Donor Care Center at Rush, which uniquely focuses on deceased patients whose lungs, hearts and more will live on in others.

Chan and her team anticipate they'll go from 20 organ recovery cases a year to more than 100.

"It was a lot of work, but it's so worth it," she said.

Across the country, more than 100,000 people are waiting for potentially life-saving transplants, including about 5,000 people in Illinois and Indiana. Some people express their wishes to be an organ donor on their driver's license. Family can also provide permission after a loved one dies at a hospital.

"All the stars have to align in order for it to be successful start to finish," said Tiffnay Garcia, organ operations manager at The Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network.

Her organization coordinates logistics with hospitals, matching donors with recipients and lots in between.

She said each donor bay is equipped with speciality equipment, tools that help monitor the health of organs or tissue while a clock constantly ticks.

"Our staff has to individually bring these out to every hospital which just takes a lot more time," Garcia said.

That's not the case anymore, as the dedicated equipment, staff, and space are all in one location with the added benefit that other hospitals can free up their beds by transferring organ donors to Rush.

"It really increases the efficiency of the system," Garcia said.

It's a system Eugene Johnson's mother, Marquita, is all too familiar with. Her 18-year-old died from a heart condition in May 2023.

"My first thought was, 'I want my child's legacy to reign forever,'" Johnson said.

Her Downers Grove South senior may be gone, but she takes solace knowing he's helped people across the country.

"I heal because the gift of hope gave me this gift to say he's helped 17 families so far," Johnson said.

The Donor Care Center aims to increase the impact of organ donors. Having everything in one spot raises the chance more organs can be saved to help more people.

"We will have more time to repeat multiple tests for the donor to try to place the heart in someone who very much needs a heart transplant or try to place the lungs and someone who really needs a lung transplant," Chan said.

Donors' families are not forgotten through the effort. Designers of the new center made sure to include a special lounge for people to grieve and wait for news about their loved one's gift.

Only a handful of dedicated organ donor surgery centers exist in the U.S. Such facilities have been able to especially increase the odds of saving and using lungs, something about 1,000 people are on a national waiting list for.