ATLANTA (April 15, 2005)—Today at 2 a.m., on his 53rd birthday, Clarence "Copeland" Shavers received a new liver and a new chance at life thanks to the Piedmont Hospital transplantation team led by Mark W. Johnson, M.D., transplant surgeon and surgical director for liver transplant services.

"I can't wait to get back on a horse and ride," said Shavers, of Milner, Ga., who has spent his life training dogs and horses. "And, hopefully, tonight will be the last rodeo that my nine-year-old granddaughter competes in that I will miss. She is an excellent horsewoman."

Shavers taught his granddaughter, Leah, how to ride at the age of three and later to train her own horses. Despite being treated for hepatitis C, he was going about living life with his wife, Alice, and his two grown daughters, Kipala and Brandy, who both live nearby with their families, when his liver began failing in October 2004. Suddenly, his future plans were in question. He wondered if he would live long enough to teach his four-month-old grandson to ride horses and to spend time with his second granddaughter expected to be born in March 2005.

Hepatitis C is a disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus. It can develop into a long-term infection, chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, liver cancer, and cause death. Over time, this viral infection can cause the liver to stop functioning, and a liver transplant is the only option for life.

"We had not been able to get on the liver transplant list at other facilities," said Mrs. Shavers, a retired school teacher. "We began to accept the fact that Copeland wasn't going to survive. Then, our doctor learned that Piedmont Hospital was starting a liver transplant program. We knew we were blessed when the office of gastroenterologist Raymond Rubin, M.D., called to say they had a cancellation and to come in immediately for testing."

The procedure marked the first liver transplantation performed at Piedmont, making the hospital one of only two liver transplant centers in Georgia.

"We certainly are not out of the woods, yet," Dr. Johnson said. "There is the immediate chance of clotting or bleeding, and then always the chance of rejection. But, we are optimistic that Mr. Shavers will be celebrating many transplant anniversaries, which amazingly also is his birthday, with the Piedmont Hospital transplant family."

Dr. Johnson and his team plan to perform a dozen transplants in their first year and double that number in 2006.

"Last year, several hundred Georgians who needed transplants left the state seeking treatment," Dr. Johnson said. "With the addition of liver transplantation at Piedmont Hospital, more patients can now receive quality care closer to home."

Liver transplantation is the second most common transplant procedure, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). Over the past decade, the number of people waiting for liver transplantation increased nearly nine-fold, from 2,217 in 1992 to a peak of 18,505 in 2001. In Georgia, 111 liver transplants were performed in 2004. Currently, there are 254 Georgians awaiting liver transplants, the UNOS reports.

Prior to joining Piedmont Hospital Transplant Services, Dr. Johnson was surgical director of liver and renal transplantation at the University of North Carolina (UNC) - Chapel Hill. While at UNC, he performed complex liver hepatobiliary surgery and started the laparoscopic donor nephrectomy program. He also was a member of the Teaching Scholars Program, an instructor for third-year surgical tutorial, and an advisor for the School of Medicine Faculty Advisor program. Dr. Johnson is on the editorial board of Liver Transplantation and a journal reviewer for AJP:Gagastrointestinal and Liver Physiology.

With a career spanning two decades, Dr. Johnson is the author of more than 50 publications on organ transplantation and surgery featured in leading medical journals. He is affiliated with the American College of Surgeons, American Society of Transplantation, American Society of Gagastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons and the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease, among a host of other professional organizations. He also is a member of the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS).

In January 2005, Dr. Johnson joined Piedmont's established transplant team that includes John D. Whelchel, M.D., chief transplant surgeon and director of Transplant Services, as well as a comprehensive group of specialists, dietitians and nurses. Also on the team are: Raymond Rubin, M.D., acting medical director; David O'Brien, M.D.; Michael Katz, M.D.; Sheldon Shore, M.D.; Eda Hochgelerent, M.D.; Edward Frederickson, M.D.; Edrea Jones, M.D.; Michael R. Galambos, M.D.; and Dariush Bahrami, M.D.

In addition to liver transplantation, Piedmont Hospital's Transplant Services also performs kidney and pancreas transplants. Piedmont is among the top 10 percent of all kidney transplant programs in the country based on total number of transplant procedures. In 2004, Piedmont recorded 130 transplants, including 126 kidney transplants, two kidney-pancreas transplants and two pancreas transplants. Seventy of the 130 transplants involved living donors.

For more information Piedmont Hospital's Liver Transplant Program, please call 404-605-4600 or visit www.piedmonthospital.org. To learn more about how to become an organ donor, call 1-866-57-SHARE.

About Piedmont Hospital
Founded in 1905 as a 10-bed sanatorium, Piedmont Hospital is celebrating a century of better care. Named one of the nation's 100 Top Hospitals® in 2002 and 2005, Piedmont Hospital is a 500-bed acute tertiary care facility offering all major medical, surgical and diagnostic services. Located on 26 acres in the north Atlanta community of Buckhead, Piedmont Hospital is a private, not-for-profit organization with 3,700 employees and a medical staff of more than 900 physicians. Piedmont Hospital is a member of Piedmont Healthcare – which includes Piedmont Fayette Hospital, a 100-bed community hospital in Fayetteville, Ga.; Piedmont Mountainside Hospital, a 35-bed community hospital in Jasper, Ga.; the Piedmont Hospital Foundation; the Piedmont Physicians Group, a 72-member primary care physician group with 20 offices throughout metro Atlanta; and the Piedmont Clinic, a 460-member physician network.