More Minnesotans are registering as organ donors

Published 10:24 am Friday, October 25, 2013

ST. PAUL — State officials say more and more Minnesotans with driver’s licenses and state identification cards are signing up as organ donors.

The state Department of Public Safety says the number of registered donors in Minnesota has increased 13 percent in three years to 2.6 million.

The agency says nearly 63 percent of Minnesotans are registered as organ, eye and tissue donors. That compares with 45 percent nationally.

Email newsletter signup

The department says the surge in donor registration is largely due to support from LifeSource, Minnesota Lions Eye Bank and American Donor Services, nonprofits that oversee lifesaving donations.

Despite the number of Minnesotans registered as organ donors reports more than 3,100 people in the state are waiting for a lifesaving transplant.