As a fully merged and integrated organization, 2025 marked a historic year of growth, collaboration, and innovation for Network for Hope.
Last year, Network for Hope had 299 organ donors from its service area, who saved 872 lives around the country.
Tissue exceeded all expectations with 1,426 tissue donors, potentially healing an estimated 107,000 people.
“These lives saved and healed would not be possible without organ, tissue, and eye donors and their families saying YES to saving lives,” Barry Massa, Network for Hope CEO, said.
But the need is still great. In 2025, the national waiting list grew by 8,000 names to more than 108,000 men, women, and children waiting for their life-saving transplant. Kentucky and Southwestern Ohio have 1,009 and 643 people waiting, respectively. This highlights the urgent need for more registered donors, as well as living donors.
In a year that unfortunately saw thousands of people remove themselves from the national registry, 155,715 people registered to save and heal lives in Network for Hope’s service area. Each of them made a selfless decision that could save a life one day.
Additional milestones for the year include:
• Led national Donation After Circulatory Death process improvements with federal government agencies to enhance collaboration, communication, and outcomes across the transplant system.
• Partnered with 34 Lives, and introducing unified Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP), an advanced donation recovery pathway, to increase the potential for healthy gifts.
• Started a five-year strategic plan to ensure innovation aligns with the needs of our partners, team members, and community.
The Network’s donation partners include all 164 hospitals and six transplant centers, coroners, funeral homes, EMTs and freestanding emergency rooms, the Cincinnati Eye Bank and Eye Bank of Kentucky, tissue processors, driver’s licensing agencies, and the Donate Life Kentucky Trust.
Moving forward in 2026, Network for Hope remains committed to the mission of organ, tissue, and eye donation, supporting families, and being a trusted voice for donation across the region.
Learn how and to get involved by visiting NetworkforHope.org.