Lakeland HealthCare recently joined the Workplace Partnership for Life Hospital Campaign to register 300,000 new organ, eye and tissue donors in the United States by the end of April.
The initiative is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
According to the HRSA, 78 Americans receive organ transplants and thousands more benefit from cornea and tissue transplants each day. There are more than 111,000 people awaiting an organ transplant in the United States. Each week, more than 100 people on the national transplant waiting list die because no organ is available.
There were 791 organs transplanted from Michigan’s 269 organ donors, saving hundreds of lives in 2011.
There are close to 3,000 people in Michigan awaiting a transplant. Among Lakeland HealthCare’s three acute care facilities, there were four organ donors and 18 tissue donors last year. Lakeland Regional Medical Center, St. Joseph was among the top 56 donor hospitals in Michigan from January through June 2011.
“One organ donor can potentially impact the lives of 50 people,” said Maureen Bishop, a clinical nurse specialist at Lakeland HealthCare. “Awareness of organ and tissue donation is increasing, but with tens of thousands of people waiting across the country, it is important to educate potential donors on the benefits of organ donation.”
Visit the Michigan Organ Donor Registry at www.giftoflifemichigan.org.