Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Huron-Perth Healthcare Alliance
Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance Maximizes Organ and Tissue Donations
Between 2007 and 2011 80 residents of Huron and Perth County received live saving transplants.
Today, 39 people in Huron and Perth County are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, with the vast majority waiting for kidney. These local residents, along with many other individuals across Ontario, are registered on a list and waiting for a miracle: the gift of life. With a provincial average of only 21% of local eligible health card holders 16 years and older signed up as donors, the wait is very long and sometimes individuals die before a donor is found.
“The Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance (HPHA) is very pleased that its Stratford General Hospital Site has become a designated hospital under the Trillium Gift of Life Network Act legislation,” said Mary Cardinal, Vice President, Clinical Programs. “The designation will require the emergency department and critical care unit to report patient deaths and imminent deaths to determine if there is potential for organ or tissue donation,” she said.
Beginning October 16, 2012, the HPHA, Guelph General Hospital, St Thomas Elgin General Hospital and Woodstock Hospital will join forty-one other designated hospitals in this program as it expands across Ontario. To be a designated hospital, the site requires a Level 3 critical care unit.
“Our staff in the emergency department and the critical care unit are trained in this provincial directive. Similar to the other hospitals, discussions with patients and families about organ and tissue donation will be done very respectfully by the specially trained staff of Trillium Gift of Life Network,” Cardinal said.
Officials with Trillium Gift of Life Network are forecasting an increase in the number of individuals who will be able to save lives by making organ and tissue donations through the expansion of the routine notification system.
“HPHA encourages everyone to take the time to consider becoming an organ and tissue donor,” Cardinal said, adding, “All the information to make an informed decision and sign-up is available at www.beadonor.ca.”
Media Contact:
Michelle Jones
Huron-Perth Healthcare Alliance
519-272-8210 ext 2737
michelle.jones@hpha.ca
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