NEWARK, DE — ChristianaCare has been honored with the prestigious Platinum Award from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The award recognizes the health system’s exceptional support of organ and tissue donation.
The Platinum Award is HRSA’s highest honor, granted to health systems that actively promote organ and tissue donation in their workplace and community through a national campaign known as DoNation. The campaign’s primary goal is to increase awareness about the critical need for organ and tissue donors.
Jason Rolls, M.D., FACS, chief and surgical director of the Kidney Transplant Program at ChristianaCare, dedicated the award to ChristianaCare caregivers, particularly the critical care nurses and physicians who support organ and tissue donation. He also acknowledged the generosity of the local communities and their willingness to say ‘yes’ to organ donation.
ChristianaCare’s Kidney Transplant Program, based at Christiana Hospital, holds the distinction of being Delaware’s only adult transplant center. It also stands as the sole such facility between Philadelphia and Baltimore. Since its inception in 2006, the program has performed over 400 transplants and provided services to more than 1,000 patients annually. These services encompass kidney transplant, living donation evaluation and waitlist management, as well as post-donation and post-transplant care.
In addition to this, ChristianaCare actively collaborates with Gift of Life Donor Program, a regional nonprofit organ procurement organization. Their joint efforts include monthly donation council meetings, educational sessions for healthcare teams, and an annual flag-raising ceremony each April as part of National Donate Life Month.
Rick Hasz, president and CEO of Gift of Life Donor Program, commended ChristianaCare for its significant role in their life-saving mission. He highlighted that ChristianaCare’s Newark and Wilmington campuses have combined to support 50 donor heroes and their families, resulting in 120 life-saving organs for transplant for waiting patients during the first eleven months of 2023.
Despite over 90% of adults in the United States supporting organ donation, only 60% are registered donors. Given that a new individual is added to the national transplant waiting list every 10 minutes, the need for more organ and tissue donors to help save lives is pressing. Visit www.organdonor.gov to learn more about organ and tissue donation, and sign up as a donor at www.donors1.org/register.
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