NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue embraces the Lifesaving Power of Organ Donation to Help New Yorkers Currently Waiting for Life-Saving Transplants
New York, NY
NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and LiveOnNY recently came together to virtually and safely register organ donors online in celebration of the Sixth Annual Organ Donor Enrollment Day. Enrollment Day focused on educating and enrolling people to save lives.
Since January 2020, NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue has had six organ donors who saved the lives of 15 people and two tissue donors who healed over 50 people. One donor donated three organs, saving the lives of two people. Organ donation yields an everlasting impact; in New York over 20,000 lives have been saved through organ donation and 500,000 lives improved through tissue donation, according to LiveOnNY.
LiveOnNY honored Bellevue last year with three awards in recognition of the diligent & life-saving work the hospital does in the area of organ and tissue donation, including the “Making a Difference Award” to Robert Smeltz, NP, ACHPN, for his role as Co-Chair of Bellevue’s Organ Donor Council.
Thank you NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue for helping others live on. LiveOnNY commends you for your valiant efforts to compassionately care for your patients and their families. We are grateful for your unwavering commitment to saving lives through organ, eye, and tissue donation,” said Lizbeth Waddell, Hospital Services Director, LiveOnNY. “Thank you for helping to achieve a world in which the power of donation is fully realized.”
“We remain committed to the importance of organ donation,” said Robert Smeltz, NP, ACHPN. “It also shouldn’t go unnoticed, that I couldn’t do this alone or without the assistance of Co-Chair Dr. Cherisse Berry. Even the simplest thing, like the timely phone calls to LiveOnNY advising them of a potential donation, can make a difference in someone’s life.”
In August 2019, a 67-year-old patient helped others live on through one final act of kindness and compassion, by donating their organs, according to LiveOnNY. This patient’s legacy will continue to live on in the lives of at least two individuals, as a kidney saved the life of a 78-year-old patient and the liver saved a 69-year-old patient. In addition, through the gift of their eyes, this patient helped give the gift of sight to others.
In September 2019, a 34-year-old patient helped three individuals live on. The right kidney saved the life of a 44-year-old woman, the left kidney saved a 53-year-old woman and the liver saved a 52-year-old man.
LiveOnNY is a nonprofit organization committed to helping New Yorkers live on through organ and tissue donation and to caring for the families touched by donation. LiveOnNY serves as the federally designated organ procurement organization (OPO) for the greater New York City area.
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