The Midwest Transplant Network has awarded Hutchinson Regional Medical Center (HRMC) and eight other Kansas and Missouri hospitals with the Excellence in Donation Award for successful efforts in promoting organ and tissue donations.
Shana Eaves, BSN, RN patient care supervisor, said four HRMC patients were organ donors during 2017 resulting in 14 organs that were successfully transplanted while 12 other patients were tissue and cornea donors.
“An organ donor can save as many as eight lives with two kidneys, two lungs, liver, pancreas and small intestines,” Eaves said. “Each tissue donor can impact the lives of as many as 50 people with life-enhancing conditions.
“Tissue donation includes two corneas that give eyesight, bones, tendons, and cartilage,” Eaves continued. “Heart valves can dramatically improve quality of life, while veins can be used for grafting coronary and peripheral vessels that may have been damaged. Skin is used to assist with grafts and healing for patients that have suffered burns, cancer and various other wounds.”
Amanda Hullet, RN, BSN, MHCL, vice president, Patient Care Services at HRMC, said several hundred people were given a second chance at life thanks to 16 organ and tissue donors that were patients at Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. “Organ and tissue donation is a very personal matter to each individual who volunteers to participate in the program,” Hullet said. “It gives family members and those who choose donation an opportunity to make a difference in what is often a difficult time.”
Representatives of the Midwest Transplant Network will visit Hutchinson during July to present the award to the staff whose responsibility includes organ and tissue donations.
The Midwest Transplant Network, established in 1973, is headquartered in Westwood and assists donors, families and hospitals in joint efforts to facilitate organ and tissue donations in Kansas and the western two-thirds of Missouri.