Edinburg, TX —Doctors Hospital at Renaissance (DHR) is among a select group of hospitals nationwide recognized for promoting enrollment in state organ donor registries in a national campaign sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The campaign has added 400,000 donor enrollments to state registries nationwide since 2011.
DHR conducted awareness and registry campaigns to educate staff, patients, visitors, and community members about the critical need for organ, eye, and tissue donors and, by doing so, increased the number of potential donors on the state’s donor registry. The hospital earned points for each activity implemented between May 2015 and April 2016 and was awarded platinum recognition through the HRSA Workplace Partnership for Life Hospital Campaign.
In April 2016, Doctors Hospital at Renaissance hosted a Grand Opening for the Renaissance Transplant Institute, the only facility in South Texas that provides kidney transplant services. Minorities such as Hispanics, Native Americans, African-Americans, and Pacific Islanders are all at a greater risk for developing chronic conditions that affect the liver, heart, and kidneys. There is also a greater diversity of blood types within these populations, which makes the need for organ donation even more critical.
“When we increase awareness, we increase the number of registered donors and increase the number of individuals who can receive transplants,” states Dr. Mourad Alsabbagh, Transplant Medical Director at Renaissance Transplant Institute. “The success rate for live-donor kidneys is at 90% five years following surgery and 82% for those who receive a kidney from a deceased donor.”
Of the 995 hospitals and transplant centers participating in the campaign, 281 were awarded with Platinum recognition during this phase of the campaign. DHR is honored to be recognized amoing the select group of care providers.
“Hundreds of patients in the Valley are waiting for a kidney, and every day people are dying while waiting on the list,” states Dr. Jose Almeda, Transplant Director at the Renaissance Transplant Institute. “It is crucial that we promote awareness about organ donation and encourage people to register as organ donors since there are more patients who need organs than there are available organs to transplant.”
This campaign is a special effort of HRSA’s Workplace Partnership for Life to mobilize the nation’s hospitals to increase the number of people in the country who are registered organ, eye, and tissue donors and ultimately, the number of organs available for transplant. The campaign unites donation advocates at hospitals with representatives from their local organ procurement organizations, Donate Life America affiliates, and state and regional hospital associations. Working together, the teams leverage their communications resources and outreach efforts to most effectively spread word of the critical need for donors.
Doctors Hospital at Renaissance worked with the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance on the campaign in April. DHR will host a Donate Life Echo Donor Drive on July 22, 2016 in the Main DHR Lobby (5501 S. McColl Rd., Edinburg, TX 78539) from 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM to promote organ donation in our community.
