Today the National Kidney Registry announced the activation of its 1,000th patient microsite. The microsite program provides free websites to transplant patients seeking a living donor so patients can spread the word of their need for a transplant.
Dr. E. Steve Woodle, a liver transplant recipient and Director of Solid Organ Transplantation for University of Cincinnati Health, stated, “We educate every patient at UC to utilize the microsite program as part of our standard kidney transplant evaluation process. We currently have 132 patients with active microsites. We are thrilled at how effective these microsites are and that so many patients have taken advantage of this opportunity to increase their chances of finding a living donor.”
“You never know who will be touched by a person’s story, so the more the story is shared, the higher the likelihood of finding a living donor. That is where microsites come in, as they are designed to be shared through social media, over email and in person using the 250 free business cards we send to each patient. This concept appears to be working as many microsite patients are finding living donors and getting transplanted,” said Samantha Hil, a kidney transplant recipient and the Microsite Project Manager.
This important milestone coincides with the launch of the Microsite Champion Training Program, an online training course that teaches patients how to conduct a successful donor search. This virtual event is presented by Garet Hil, a voucher donor and a donor search champion with Samantha Hil, a living donor kidney recipient.