The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Hospital recognized for organ donation enrollment
ROME, N.Y. » Rome Memorial Hospital is among a select group of hospitals nationwide recognized for promoting enrollment in state organ donor registries in a national campaign sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
More than 443,000 donor enrollments were added to state registries nationwide as a result of the campaign.
Rome Memorial Hospital 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 on the state’s donor registry. The hospital earned points for each activity implemented between October 2017 and April 2018 and was awarded platinum recognition through the HRSA Workplace Partnership for Life Hospital Campaign.
Of the 1,283 hospitals and transplant centers participating in the campaign, 468 platinum awards were awarded during this phase of the campaign.
“There are nearly 10,000 people on waiting lists to receive the gift of organ and tissue donation in New York State alone,” said Patricia King RN, CCM, CDMS, assistant vice president continuum of care/donate life chairperson at Rome Memorial Hospital. “We have worked hard to help people realize how easy it is to register and how big a difference organ and tissue donation can make in people’s lives.”
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 lever- age their communications resources and outreach efforts to most effectively spread word of the critical need for donors.
Rome Memorial Hospital worked with Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network on the campaign.
“We have a great team within the hospital who has worked hard to help us achieve this goal and ultimately raise awareness,” continued King. “Additionally, having the resources and expertise that the Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network provides hasmade this honor possible.”