The Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) is partnering with the Center for Donation and Transplant (CDT) to celebrate National Donate Life Month. Events will be held throughout the month of April to showcase the lifesaving benefits of organ and tissue donation and to encourage New Yorkers to enroll in the New York State Donate Life Donor Registry.
In addition to displaying the Donate Life Flag at the Wynn Hospital, MVHS is helping to raise awareness with informational tables, spirit week activities and a walk for MVHS employees. MVHS is also hosting an activity for MVHS employees and volunteers to help make blankets for organ donor families.
MVHS and CDT have worked collaboratively to support families who are honoring wishes of registered donors, and with those families who are faced with making the decision to give the gift of life. Since 2023, CDT has spoken with 67 families at MVHS about donation. Approximately half of those families make the decision to donate. Families and the donor patients at MVHS have received a variety of life-saving donations, including heart, lungs, livers, kidneys, pancreas, heart values, tendons, long bones and corneas.
Currently in the United States, there more than 100,000 people waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, 13 people die each day waiting for a donor and every eight minutes someone is added to the donor list. Individuals waiting for a donation may be on a transplant list for up to five years.
“We continue to work in the community to spread awareness of the need for this life saving gift, said Susan McKinstry, BSN, RN, CCRN, Intensive Care clinician and CDT liaison. “When I talk to families about organ donation, I use the analogy of a storm passing. After a terrible storm, the presence of a rainbow can provide optimism and motivate us to endure through the dark times. Organ donation is the rainbow, which is an act of kindness that can save multiple lives and be the reason someone gets another chance to live.”
CDT is a nonprofit organ procurement organization that facilitates organ and tissue donation at 44 hospitals in 30 counties in Upstate New York and Western Vermont. In addition to facilitating donation, CDT works with partner hospitals to educate the community about donation and the registry and share the lifesaving stories of those that have said “yes” to donation.
To register as a donor or for more information about how to get involved, please visit www.cdtnyvt.org.
###
