Phoenix hospital says need for organ donors is high, especially among Hispanic patients

Organ donation rates are typically low among Hispanic patients. That’s why a Phoenix hospital is urging Hispanic residents to become donors.

With more than 100,000 people on the U.S. on the transplant list, the need for organ donation is high.

Gabriel Quiroz is the kidney transplant coordinator at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital. He said transplants can be successful regardless of ethnicity, but have a better chance of success if the donor and recipient have similar genetic makeups.

“The majority of those patients that are on transplant lists throughout the United States are of multicultural communities or minority races," he said. “When it comes down to it, we do look at genetic testing, genetic matching, and the more closely related the genetic matching can be, the longer those organs may last for these recipients.”

He says there’s a need for organ, eye and tissue donations after donors die, but people can also be living donors of kidneys and livers. Kidneys are in the highest demand all over the country.