Georgine Hurst
Veterans are so deserving of our support. They gave years of their lives in service to our country and were glad to do it. Unfortunately, according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), veterans have a 34% higher chance of having kidney disease than the general population. This is due to a combination of medical, environmental, and social issues. Additionally, vets who need a kidney die at a higher rate than normal mainly because they don’t get a living or deceased kidney donor. Wouldn’t it be great if veterans in need of a kidney always received one and were able to live out their lives?
DOVE or Donor Outreach for Veterans is an organization dedicated to helping veterans who need a kidney find donors. This means spreading the word so that potential donors will “step forward” for a veteran. Veterans can register with DOVE who will then work aggressively to find a donor. This can shorten their wait time from years to months and is truly the gift of life.
U.S. VA hospitals are the largest providers of kidney transplants for veterans. They have 10 centers that perform approximately 160 transplants per year, but this is just a fraction of what is needed. The 2,000 vets who need a kidney now and are registered with the VA are on wait lists of 90,000 people in need. The vets get lost among the enormous demand. Furthermore, “Many veterans who have already sacrificed so much, and whose mindset is to serve others, are resistant to asking for help.” This is where DOVE fills in the gap by being a champion for vets.
DOVE was founded in 2020 by Sharyn Kreitzer who worked at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City for many years. She founded DOVE with the idea of creating a culture of taking care of our own—in this case, U.S. veterans. Sharyn is now a living donor herself and since 2020 has matched 48 donors for vets to Transplant Centers. Half of these donors had been declined at their original testing facility, but DOVE worked to get them matched to the right program.
If you would like to help vets in their wait for a transplant by being a kidney donor (age 18 to 75), or by volunteering with DOVE, or by making a monetary contribution, please go to [email protected] or dovetransplant.org. Use this information too if you are a vet in need of a kidney. The Tucson/VA Southern Arizona Health Care System will provide kidney transplant evaluations, but not the surgery, which is done at hospitals designated as Transplant Centers. DOVE is a 501(c)(3) organization and Combined Federal Campaign Charity #84662.