Bengaluru's Jeeva Spandana to Revolutionize Organ Donation with Family-Centric Approach
In a significant move to enhance organ donation rates, Bengaluru is set to inaugurate a state-of-the-art non-transplant organ retrieval centre named Jeeva Spandana at Victoria Hospital within the next couple of months. This innovative facility, announced in 2025 with an investment of Rs 1 crore, aims to transform the organ retrieval process by prioritizing family comfort and support, unlike conventional centres where brain-dead patients are directly moved to operating theatres.
Creating a Compassionate Environment for Donor Families
Jeeva Spandana is designed to address the emotional needs of families during the difficult time of organ donation. Dr Deepak S, medical superintendent at Victoria Hospital, explained the unique approach: "Once brain death is declared, we will transfer donors and their families from the regular ICU to a four-bed ICU in Jeeva Spandana. This smaller, more ambient space allows family members to visit the patient as many times as they wish and spend ample private time to grieve before organ retrieval proceeds." This initiative seeks to encourage more organ donations by making the process less stressful and more respectful for loved ones.
Advanced Features and Coordination
The centre will be equipped with modern amenities to streamline organ retrieval and transplantation. It includes an information kiosk and a communication centre, as highlighted by Dr Deepak: "The communication centre will have facilities to relay live updates about organs to other cities, facilitating better planning for transplant procedures across regions." Organ retrieval centres like Jeeva Spandana are specialized hospital facilities focused on identifying, maintaining, and retrieving organs from brain-dead donors, while coordinating with transplant centres without performing transplants themselves.
Limited Progress on National Expansion Plans
Around the time of Jeeva Spandana's announcement, health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao had stated plans to establish organ retrieval centres at 22 medical college hospitals nationwide. However, progress has been limited. Sharan Prakash Patil, medical education minister, noted: "Apart from Victoria Hospital, we have not set up organ retrieval centres elsewhere, as the need is greater in Bengaluru due to existing transplant facilities like the Institute of Nephro Urology for kidney transplants and the Institute of Gastroenterology Sciences and Organ Transplant for liver transplants." He confirmed no immediate plans for additional centres, except for a 1,000-bed charitable super-specialty multi-organ transplant hospital being developed by the Azim Premji Foundation in collaboration with the state government.
This development underscores Bengaluru's leadership in healthcare innovation, with Jeeva Spandana poised to set a new standard for organ donation processes by balancing medical efficiency with compassionate care for families.
