Elmhurst Hospital Center recently received a national award for its high organ donation rate during the past year from the New York Organ Donor Network.
From February 2007 through May 2008, Elmhurst Hospital’s organ donation rates ranged from 88 to 91 percent and the hospital was presented with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Medal of Honor for substantially raising organ donation rates of eligible donors from its facility.
“We are thrilled to receive this award and to be part of a program where one donor can be responsible for saving multiple lives,” said Elmhurst Hospital Center Executive Director Christopher Constantino.
Elmhurst Hospital is one of 402 hospitals in the country – and only one of 11 regionally – with eight or more potential donors that met eligibility criteria for achieving and sustaining an organ donation rate of 75 percent or higher for any 12-month period between August 2006 and May 2008.
In a congratulatory letter to the hospital, HHS administrator Elizabeth Duke praised all of the doctors, nurses, physicians and other hospital personnel for their dedication and work and making sure the process “works smoothly and the gift of life given by organ donors and donor families is honored.”
Currently, there are more than 100,000 patients waiting for organ transplants in the U.S., and the number of patients awaiting organ transplants in the greater New York metropolitan area exceeds 8,000. Each day, an average of 18 people die because of the dire organ shortage and a new name is added to the waiting list every 13 minutes.
“We congratulate and thank the staff of Elmhurst Hospital Center,” said Elaine Berg, New York Organ Donor Network President and CEO. “They have set an example for the entire region and my hope is that as role models they will inspire all of the other medical facilities to aspire to these ambitious but nevertheless realizable goals.”
To learn more about organ, eye and tissue donation, and to enroll in the New York State Donate Life Registry, visit the web site of the New York Organ Donor Network at www.donatelifeny.org.
