By RSSFeeds Administrator Mr. Cason received a kidney about six weeks after joining the transplant list from a 45-year-old deceased donor who had a brain tumor.
“I got a kidney last Oct. 25 from a 45-year-old deceased woman who had a brain tumor,” Mr. Cason said, “so I was very lucky … and I’m doing quite well.”
His wait was unusually short. Mr. Cason said he received a call one morning telling him a kidney was available and that he needed to decide immediately and arrive at the hospital within an hour.
“Normally, you have to wait years and years, and I was really lucky,” he said.
The kidney had a small cancerous area that was removed before the transplant, Mr. Cason said. He believes his age – 81 – may have made the kidney more suitable for him than for a younger recipient.
While Mr. Cason’s search ended successfully, Dr. Giselle Guerra, medical director of the living donor and robotic transplant program at the Miami Transplant Institute, said the overall shortage has improved only slightly over the past year.
“Currently, the situation is still about the same,” Dr. Guerra said.
One major change since last year has been the organization responsible for procuring donated organs in South Florida.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services decertified Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency, a division of the University of Miami Health System, after finding that it did not meet federal requirements for an organ procurement organization. Nevada Donor Network was selected to assume responsibility for organ procurement services in the South Florida donation service area, which covers six counties and the Bahamas. Life Alliance’s decertification took effect March 27, when the South Florida Donor Network assumed operations in the region.
Dr. Guerra said organ donation in South Florida has improved since the change, although organs still are brought into the region from elsewhere.
“It has improved slightly with increasing donors in the current South Florida area, but still we’re far from where we need to be,” she said. “Nationally, there still is a shortage.”
More than 90,000 Americans were waiting for a kidney transplant as of January, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. The nation performed 27,573 kidney transplants in 2025.
Kidneys remain particularly strained because the number of people developing chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease continues to grow, Dr. Guerra said. Although kidneys are the most commonly procured organs, “the demand is too high for the amount of supply,” she said.
The shortage extends to other organs. Dr. Guerra said shortages affect lungs and livers as well, with some patients dying while awaiting transplantation. Patients requiring multiple abdominal organs face another challenge because suitable donors for those transplants are rare.
Mr. Cason was seeking a kidney after being diagnosed with autosomal dominant tubulointerstitial kidney disease-UMOD (ADTKD-UMOD), a rare inherited kidney disease. He is one of three recent Coral Gables mayors who have needed organ transplants. Former Mayor Raúl Valdés-Fauli and current Mayor Vince Lago are also organ recipients.
Mr. Cason said the experiences of the three mayors reflect the broader need for organ donors.
“Since the last three Coral Gables mayors have all had a transplant, it emphasized the need for, first of all, the number of people that need kidneys, and the fact that there are a lot of people out there who haven’t signed up to give their organs when they die, and the living donors are a small percentage of those that are given,” he said.
Dr. Guerra said one of the continuing obstacles in South Florida is getting more residents to become organ donors. Misconceptions persist, she said, including fears that registered organ donors might receive different medical treatment in an emergency.
She said organ procurement organizations operate separately from the healthcare providers treating patients. Donation becomes a consideration after the medical team determines that a patient will not survive and may qualify for organ donation.
Cultural differences and a lack of information about organ donation also contribute to the shortage in South Florida, Dr. Guerra said. She added that hospitals and organ procurement organizations need to work together to identify potential donors and properly care for them so that organs suitable for transplantation aren’t lost.
The Miami Transplant Institute, a collaboration between Jackson Health System and UHealth–University of Miami Health System, averages about 400 kidney transplants a year and is among the three largest kidney transplant programs nationally, according to Jackson. Across all organ types, the institute performs more than 700 transplant procedures annually.
But Dr. Guerra doesn’t expect the gap between the number of people needing organs and the supply to disappear soon.
“I wish I would say it will narrow, but I think the demand versus the supply is increasing,” she said. “People are living longer, and unfortunately, are going into more organ failure, so the need is continuing to increase.”
That growing demand is one reason researchers are looking beyond traditional deceased and living donation, she said. One possibility is xenotransplantation, the transplantation of organs from animals into humans. Dr. Guerra said living donation is possible for kidneys and portions of the liver, while other organs generally depend on deceased donors.
Mr. Cason also has been involved in the transplant system at the national level. He serves on the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Board of Directors, which oversees and participates in developing policies governing the nation’s organ transplant system. He was elected to the board in 2025 as one of its patient, donor and family member representatives.
“I’ve gotten involved in it because I want to make sure that people understand how important it is to give, and how safe it is to give their organs either alive or have their relatives agree that their organs should be, if they wanted, donated upon their death,” Mr. Cason said.
Months after his transplant, Mr. Cason said he is doing well and has made numerous follow-up visits to the Miami Transplant Institute. His unusually short wait, however, stands in contrast to the continuing shortage facing patients who still need an organ.
“The need continues to exceed the supply,” he said, “not only here, but nationally.”
The post Procurer of organs for donations changed, but shortage remains appeared first on Miami Today.
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