HHS Recognizes South Carolina Hospitals with Highest Organ Donation Rates
January 24, 2011
CHARLESTON, SC – January 20, 2011 – Six South Carolina hospitals received awards from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in November of 2010, for their success in increasing the number of organs available for transplantation. Our state’s six winners were among 307 of the nation’s hospitals that received the department’s Medal of Honor for Organ Donation during a ceremony at the 6th Annual National Learning Congress held in Grapevine, Texas.
Hospital executives, along with their respective partners in all 58 federally designated organ procurement organizations (OPOs), were honored for achieving and sustaining national goals for donation, including a donation rate of 75 percent or more of eligible donors at their facilities. (Three out of every four medically eligible donors became donors.)
One South Carolina hospital, AnMed Health in Anderson, was awarded a Silver 1 Medal for, not only achieving a 75 percent conversion rate, but also 3.75 organs transplanted per donor. Only 219 hospitals in the U.S. had this distinction.
Five other South Carolina hospitals received Bronze Medals for achieving a 75 percent or greater conversion rate:
- Grand Strand Regional Medical Center – Myrtle Beach
- Lexington Medical Center – West Columbia
- Providence Hospital – Columbia
- Self Regional Healthcare – Greenwood
- Trident Medical Center-Charleston
South Carolina’s winning hospitals collaborate closely with the state’s OPO, LifePoint, Inc., to implement best practices for honoring the final wishes of organ and tissue donors.
Nancy A. Kay, LifePoint President and CEO, said, “We would like to congratulate the six South Carolina hospitals that received these prestigious awards. This national recognition is really a credit to their hard work. It shows their commitment to saving lives through donation and ultimately transplantation by honoring the wishes of donors and their families.”
The wishes of individual’s desiring donation, along with their legal consent, can now be indicated by potential donors on a South Carolina Organ and Tissue Donor Registry, www.Every11Minutes.org. Established in December 2008, the registry is providing LifePoint, South Carolina hospitals, and families with increased clarity about a potential donor’s end-of-life wishes.
HRSA’s Donation and Transplantation Community of Practice brings together donation and transplantation professionals and hospital leaders to identify and share best practices to integrate organ donation into hospitals’ end-of-life care.
“These organizations and individuals have all made a real difference by working to increase the number of organs available for transplantation,” said Mary K. Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N., administrator of HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which leads federal efforts to increase organ and tissue donation and transplantation. “We are proud of their efforts. Together, they are helping to save and improve the lives of individuals across America.”
For more information about the Medal of Honor or the S.C. Organ and Tissue Donor Registry, contact: Mark Johnson, Media Relations Coordinator – LifePoint, at 1-800-462-0755 or 843-763-7755.
About LifePoint
LifePoint is the designated Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) for organ recovery services in South Carolina. LifePoint actively provides organ, tissue and ocular donor services to over 60 hospitals throughout the state. LifePoint also helps support and educate families at an emotionally devastating time, so they can make well-informed decisions about organ and tissue donation.
