Nevada Donor Network Awarded $500,000 in Support of ‘End The Wait’ Campaign

Nevada Donor Network (NDN) is pleased to announce it was awarded $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds from the City of Las Vegas.  The funding will support its Foundation’s “End the Wait” capital campaign, which is aimed at raising $35 million to launch the Nevada transplant initiative to expand transplantation programs and services in Nevada.  

“We are extremely grateful for this $500,000 award from City of Las Vegas,” said Nevada Donor Network President and CEO Joe Ferreria. “Right now, Nevada has a single kidney transplant center at University Medical Center, however with this funding, we are a one step closer to expanding transplantation services through the development of a full-scale transplant initiative to meet the Nevada waiting list demand. I want to personally thank Mayor Carolyn Goodman and Ward 5 City Councilman Cedric Crear for their passionate support of this groundbreaking initiative and those awaiting the gift of life.”  

The ‘End the Wait’ campaign is raising the funds necessary to expand the current kidney transplant program and create a new liver transplant program. Nevada Donor Network Foundation, in partnership with NDN, will recruit qualified physicians, nurses and support staff to Nevada to expand transplant services for the state.

It is estimated that within 12 months, this program would be fully operational and self-sustaining by month 25. Nevada’s liver waiting recipients will no longer have to seek life-saving care in surrounding states, which increases the financial, physical and emotional burden for critically ill patients and their families.  

“The transplant initiative will combine our partner hospitals, transplant centers and community healthcare providers in a singular, dedicated network,” said Nevada Donor Network Foundation President Steven Peralta. “We will better serve heroic organ donors, their courageous families and the potential recipients who wait for the gift of life and health. This will elevate all healthcare in Nevada and serve to correct health disparities in access within the diverse populations in desperate need of these services.” 

The American Rescue Plan was instituted by the federal government to change the course of the pandemic and deliver immediate and direct relief to families and workers impacted by the COVID-19 crisis through no fault of their own. The city of Las Vegas received $131 million in funding to support causes, issues and groups who have been most impacted by the pandemic. 

“To be a world-class city, it’s essential that Las Vegas provide vital services such as those offered by the Nevada Donor Network,” said Las Vegas City Councilman Cedric Crear. “I’m confident the money the city has allocated through the American Rescue Plan Act to the network will mean life and renewed health for many waiting for a vital organ transplant.”   

For more information on the Nevada Transplant Institute and the “End the Wait” campaign, please visit https://www.nvdonor.org/end-the-wait.