Dr. Louis G. Britt, who led what has been called “the ‘phenomenal journey of organ donation and transplantation” in the Mid-South, died August 22.

Britt, a transplant surgeon who performed the first kidney transplant in Memphis and was founder and president of the Mid-South Transplant Foundation, Inc., was 84.  He performed organ transplants and facilitated the procurement of organs in the Memphis area for more than 40 years.

“Dr. Britt not only had a tremendous impact on the medical community, but also touched thousands of lives in the Mid-South,” said Kim Van Frank, executive director of the Mid-South Transplant Foundation.

In addition to the first kidney transplant, Britt was a major reason the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) began liver transplants in 1982.

Britt served as consulting staff at many area hospitals, including Methodist Hospitals, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Saint Francis Hospital, Baptist Memorial Hospital and Regional One Hospital.  Dr. Britt also served the medical community as a professor of surgery at the UTHSC, where he served as the Chair of the Department of Surgery for 10 years.

He received his medical education and training at the University of  Tennessee College of Medicine.