University Hospital to receive Organ Donation Medal of Honor
University Transplant Center to pick up two National Awards
(San Antonio, TX – October 20, 2008) Members of the University Hospital critical care and organ transplantation teams are headed to Nashville this week to collect three significant national awards, including the 2008 Organ Donation Medal of Honor, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS will also honor the University Transplant Center for speeding up the process of listing persons in need of transplantation on the National Donor Registry, and for increasing the number of patients receiving lung transplants at University Hospital.
University Hospital is receiving the Organ Donation Medal of Honor for exceeding a donation rate of 75 percent from October 2006 through May 2008. During this period, 111 individuals were given a second chance at life due to the efforts of all those involved in the organ donation process at University Hospital. University Hospital is one of five hospitals in the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance’s (TOSA) donation service area to earn a medal of honor this year, and one of 417 nationwide.
The University Transplant Center will be recognized by HHS’ Transplant Growth and Management Collaborative (TGMC) for reducing the time needed to place a patient on the waiting list for a kidney, liver or lung by 50 percent, to 70 days. The University Transplant team was able to reach this accomplishment by developing a new tracking system that enables all of the many requirements for placement on an organ waiting list to happen faster.
In addition, the Lung Transplant Teams will be honored for increasing the number of patients receiving life-saving lung transplantation by 45 percent. One of the limitations associated with lung transplantation is the lack of available organs, so the University team developed a new protocol for managing potential lung donors that significantly increased the number of lungs available for donation, without compromising pulmonary function, length of stay, or survival of the recipients.
All three awards will be presented at the 4th Annual National Learning Congress on Organ Donation and Transplantation in Nashville on Friday, October 24. The Congress will include nurses, physicians and administrators from the nation’s top hospitals and organ donor agencies for the purpose of improving organ donation rates and patient outcomes.
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