St. Luke's & Lake View Recognized Nationally for Promoting Organ, Eye and Tissue Donation
Posted on Sep 19, 2016
By St. Luke's, Duluth, MN
St. Luke’s Hospital in Duluth and Lake View Hospital in Two Harbors
were among a select group of hospitals nationally recognized for promoting
enrollment in state organ donor registries. The hospitals earned the recognition
through a campaign sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The
campaign has added 400,000 donor enrollments to state registries nationwide
since 2011.
In 2015 and 2016, St. Luke’s cared for five organ donors saving 13
lives, and two tissue donors with the potential to impact up to 120 people
over the next five years. St. Luke’s conducted awareness and registry
campaigns to educate staff, patients, visitors and community members about
the critical need for organ, eye and tissue donors and, by doing so, increased
the number of potential donors in the state’s donor registry.
St. Luke’s earned points for each activity implemented between May
2015 and April 2016 and was awarded platinum recognition through the HRSA
Workplace Partnership for Life Hospital Campaign. Lake View Hospital received
bronze recognition. Of the 995 hospitals and transplant centers participating
in the campaign, 281 were awarded platinum recognition and 207 were awarded
bronze recognition during this phase of the campaign.
“Saving lives is at the heart of what we do here at St. Luke’s,
and this recognition reflects that,” said Barb Boettcher, RN, chair
of St. Luke’s organ tissue and eye donation committee. “But
there’s still a need for organ donation in our community so we’re
proud to be a part of a campaign that encourages others to give such an
amazing gift.”
This campaign is a special effort of HRSA’s Workplace Partnership
for Life to mobilize the nation’s hospitals to increase the number
of people in the country who are registered organ, eye and tissue donors
and ultimately, the number of organs available for transplant. The campaign
unites donation advocates at hospitals with representatives from their
local organ procurement organizations, Donate Life America affiliates,
and state and regional hospital associations. Working together, the teams
leverage their communications resources and outreach efforts to most effectively
spread word of the critical need for donors.
St. Luke’s partnered with LifeSource, an organ procurement organization
providing services since 1989, and Minnesota Lions Eye Bank on the campaign.
BELOW: St. Luke's Logo
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