LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The recent national focus on the death of actress Anne Heche and the donation of her organs has put a spotlight on organ donation all over the country.

In Michigan, there are nearly 3,000 people currently on the waiting list for a transplant and about 113,000 people waiting nationwide according to the non-profit organization Gift of Life Michigan.

MORE NEWS: Illegal Mexican National Charged with Home Invasion and Sexual Assault in St. Joseph County

There are eight organs that are able to be donated: lungs (2), liver, pancreas, heart, kidneys (2) and intestines.
Gift of Life Michigan reports that there are 4.8 million registered donors in Michigan and the best way to add your name to that list is to join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry.

On average, 17 Michigan residents have organ transplants each week and organ donors can save up to eight lives. Tissue donors can improve the lives of up to 75 sick, injured or blind people.

If a person enters a Michigan hospital and is declared brain dead like in the case of Heche, a referral is made to Gift of Life Michigan to evaluate the suitability of the patient for donation. The organization says that the Michigan Organ Donor Registry is checked to see if the patient has declared their decision to donate their organs and tissue. If so, the donation can proceed. Of not, then the family is offered the opportunity to donate the patient’s organs and tissues.

Tests are done to determine which organs are health and suitable for transplantation and potential recipients are matched based on blood type, severity of illness and other medical criteria.

The donor can remain at the hospital they are currently in or they can be moved to the Gift of Life Michigan’s surgical center in Ann Arbor.

There is a moment of silence before the surgery begins to honor the donor. The donation process for the organs and tissue can take 24 to 36 hours but the surgical teams immediately return to their respective hospitals with the organs to perform the recipients’ transplant surgeries.

MORE NEWS: More Than 50 Animals Rescued Out of Emmet County from Alleged Hoarding Situation

Gift of Life covers all costs associated with the organ and tissue procurement process and gives the donor’s family basic information about the recipients of their loved one’s gift or gifts.

According to Gift of Life Michigan, more than 9,000 Michigan patients have received a life-saving organ transplant in the past ten years and tens of thousands have benefited from tissue and corneal transplants.