VCU Medical Center Earns Health and Human Services Medal of Honor for Organ Donation Efforts

By Malorie Burkett

The Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, in collaboration with LifeNet Health, has earned the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' prestigious Medal of Honor for organ donation.

The medal is awarded to hospitals that have achieved at least a 75 percent organ donor conversion rate for a sustained 12-month period.

The conversion rate is the percentage of eligible potential donors from whom at least one organ is recovered and transplanted and indicates the overall effectiveness of a comprehensive organ donation program within a hospital, community and organ procurement organization such as LifeNet Health.

"This award is a testament to our transplant program's commitment and dedication to increasing organ donation in order to save lives," said Donna George, administrative director of the VCU Medical Center's Hume-Lee Transplant Center.

According to LifeNet Health, achieving this goal translates into more families in crisis being helped through donation, and more lives saved through organ donation and transplantation.

"VCU Medical Center has a compassionate team of nurses, physicians, chaplains and clinical specialists that work to achieve these high standards," said Lisa Emerson, LifeNet Health director of clinical services. "This award represents everyone's hard work to increase the number of lives we save each and every day."

VCU Medical Center is one of seven hospitals in the LifeNet Health service area that is receiving the award, which will be presented Wednesday, Oct. 10, at the 3^rd annual National Learning Congress in Nashville, Tenn.

The Medal of Honor is part of the HHS Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative, designed to combat the growing disparity between the supply and demand of organs for transplantation in the United States. The initiative pairs hospitals with the highest number of eligible and potential donors with their local organ procurement organization. Its goal is to raise the donation rate at these institutions to 75 percent.

VCU's Hume-Lee Transplant Center has performed more than 2,000 kidney transplants, 100 pancreas transplants for Type 1 diabetics and over 900 liver transplants. The center has been awarded a Center of Excellence recognition by CIGNA Healthcare, United Resources Network, WellPoint and Southern Health.

LifeNet Health Transplant Services Division is a leading, federally designated Organ Procurement Organization that coordinates the recovery and transplant of organs in Virginia, offers a comprehensive program of bereavement support for donor families, and educates the public about donation.

For more information, visit http://www.organdonor.gov/.