Memorial Hermann: No. 1 in Nation for Donated Organs

Another chance at life is a precious gift. Memorial Hermann Hospital and LifeGift Organ Donation Center staff members know this better than most, as they help make miracles from tragedies every day.

Preliminary figures released by the United Network for Organ Sharing, or UNOS, show Memorial Hermann recovered organs from more donors than any other institution in the country last year. Collaborating with LifeGift, the hospital recovered 233 organs from 64 donors. This is the second time in three years the hospital has received this distinction.

“There’s a critical shortage of organ donors in this country,” said UNOS Executive Director Walter Graham. “We’re hopeful that success such as that achieved by Memorial Hermann will help raise awareness and contribute toward saving even more lives in future years.”

Sam Holtzman, president and chief executive officer of Houston-based LifeGift Organ Donation Center, the agency responsible for working with hospitals to recover organs and tissue in 109 counties in southeast, north and west Texas, attributes the success to a strong partnership between the two institutions.

“With more than 85,000 individuals on the transplant waiting list nationwide – 1,600 in Southeast Texas alone – the need is clear,” Holtzman remarked. “Memorial Hermann Hospital has attained a level of achievement unparalleled by any other institution.”

In 1995, Memorial Hermann became one of two hospitals in the country to pilot LifeGift’s In-House Coordinator Program. The program places LifeGift donation specialists inside the hospital to work side-by-side with hospital staff to maximize donor opportunities. The program has been so effective that it has been replicated in Level I trauma centers across the country.

“There is no doubt Memorial Hermann has helped save and enhance hundreds of lives due to the program. The hospital became the nation’s top donor hospital in 2000 and routinely surpasses the performance of most other Level I trauma centers in the country,” Holtzman said.

“Family members want to know they’re doing the right thing. We work with them to help them understand brain death,” said Janine Mazabob, Memorial Hermann Hospital’s neuroscience services clinical director . “At the same time, we let them know we are here to support them and respect their decision – it is. My own experience has been that when they see how their loved ones have helped so many survive, they’re comforted.”

“Thanks to our strong collaborative efforts, our organ donation program helped 134 transplant patients at Memorial Hermann Hospital, alone, last year,” said Juanita Romans, Memorial Hermann Hospital CEO and Memorial Hermann Healthcare System senior vice president. “Memorial Hermann is committed to saving lives and providing LifeGift the support needed to connect organ donors with patients waiting for transplants.”

LifeGift statistics show one organ and tissue donor can give the gift of life to 50 people. LifeGift encourages individuals to make the decision to become an organ and tissue donor and share the decision with family members. The latter is crucial as family must consent to donate.

For more information about organ and tissue donation and free donor cards, contact LifeGift at 1-800-633-6562 or visit www.lifegift.org.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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