North Shore University Hospital Participates in National Campaign to Encourage Organ and Tissue Donation
April 11, 2007
| Hospital Set To Open New Kidney Transplant Program This Summer In an effort to encourage organ and tissue donation, North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) today held a public awareness event and flag raising ceremony to honor organ donor families, transplant recipients and the healthcare professionals who help make transplantation possible.
For several years, NSUH along with 14 other hospitals of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Health System, have had an aggressive action plan in place to increase the number of organ and tissue donations at its hospitals. In 2006, 33 organ donors from North Shore-LIJ hospitals resulted in 86 life-saving transplants. “This is a tremendous achievement that reflects the commitment and dedication of dozens of nurses, physicians, social workers and others at our hospitals who help prepare families for a loved one’s death and reinforce the fact that they can give life through organ donation,” said Dennis Dowling, executive director of NSUH and LIJ Medical Center. According to the New York State Organ and Tissue Donor Registry, one person who donates organs can save up to six lives, while a tissue donor can improve 12 or more lives by restoring eyesight and helping fight infections in burn patients, for example. To increase healthcare access for kidney transplant patients in Queens and Nassau, North Shore-LIJ will launch a new kidney transplant program this summer at NSUH. The program will be directed by Ernesto Molmenti, MD, PhD, the hospital’s newly appointed vice chairman of surgery, who previously held the position of professor of surgery and chief of the section of abdominal transplantation at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson. “This new program will benefit Queens and Long Island residents who need life-saving surgery,” said Dr. Molmenti. “Kidney transplant patients will be able to have the highly specialized surgery locally as well as their pre- and post-medical care. With kidney transplant patients requiring 30 or more medical visits in the first year, this program will save patients’ time and energy and make the entire process easier.” In Nassau and Queens counties, between 60 and 70 people require a kidney transplant annually, but with no transplant centers in either county, residents have had to travel to Manhattan or Suffolk County to find care. The transplant program is expected to handle 15 to 20 transplants during the first year. Media Contact: Betty Olt 516-465-2645 |
