North Shore University Hospital First On Long Island to Launch 'Donate Life Campaign'
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As part of the one-year anniversary of its first kidney transplant, North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) recently launched an Organ and Tissue Donation Workplace Campaign, in collaboration with the New York Organ Donor Network (NYODN). The educational campaign, which organizers plan to roll out to other facilities of the North Shore-LIJ Health System over the next year, is aimed at addressing the shortage of organ and tissue transplantation in the New York area. In the New York metropolitan area alone, there are nearly 8,000 people awaiting an organ transplant. “Many will die while waiting for a match, which is the reason why North Shore University Hospital has joined with New York Organ Donor Network in this very special initiative to increase awareness about organ and tissue donation,” said Susan Somerville, the hospital’s executive director. “The key to increasing the number of lives saved is to be informed and share one’s decision to be an organ and tissue donor. By joining together and educating others about the benefits of organ donation, we can give our patients, a loved one, a neighbor, or even a friend a second chance at life.”
NSUH is the first hospital in the North Shore-LIJ Health System to launch this bold new initiative. The next hospital slotted for the campaign is LIJ Medical Center. Campaigns at other North Shore-LIJ hospitals will follow. Currently, there are only two other hospitals in New York that have participated in this program.
“While what we have accomplished this past year has been incredible, we can make greater strides to save more lives,” said Michael J. Dowling, president and chief executive officer of the North Shore-LIJ Health System. “As the largest employer on Long Island and the ninth-largest in the city of New York, organ and tissue donation is a community-based initiative that speaks to each and every single hospital employee and health care professional.” There are more than 100,000 men, women and children waiting to receive lifesaving organ transplants in the United States, including 9,000 in New York State and nearly 8,000 in the greater New York metropolitan area. As of late October, North Shore-LIJ hospitals have received about 56 organs from 22 donors so far this year, which translates to 2.5 organs transplanted per donor. In 2007, the health system received 74 organs from 38 donors. The announcement of NSUH’s organ and tissue donation workplace campaign was made one year after the hospital performed its first kidney transplant, under the medical leadership of Ernesto Molmenti, MD, the program’s surgical director, and Madhu Bhaskaran, MD, the center’s medical director. NSUH has the only transplant center serving Nassau and Queens counties. Media Contact: Adina Conn, 516-465-2620 |
