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In This Issue:
From left, Martha Burke, MSW, LICSW, director, Social Work; Ron Hindelang, chaplain; Patricia Lin; Social Work; Jenny Hemani, chaplain; Terry Sirois; Social Work; and Kathleen Gallivan, director, Chaplaincy Services.
In honor of the families of individuals who have donated organs or tissue, Social Work and Chaplaincy hosted BWH’s first organ donor family ceremony Sunday. More than 25 donor family members and staff attended the memorial service in the BWH Chapel and reception afterwards.
“The families of the donors are heroes,” Galen Henderson, MD, director of Critical Care & Emergency Neurology, said. “It takes a lot of courage to make such a difficult, life-changing decision during a time of crisis when a loved one is dying.”
In addition to Henderson, Pam Albert, the New England Organ Bank’s (NEOB) director of donor services, Terry Sirois, Care Coordination, who was instrumental in organizing the event, and several loved ones of deceased organ donors shared stories of gratitude and remembrance. Dave Hart, recipient of a new heart, expressed his gratitude to the families. “The families of donors will forever be in my thoughts,” he said.
The memorial services underscored the pressing need for increased awareness of organ donation. Nationwide, there are 89,000 Americans awaiting an organ transplant, and only 23,000 ever get off the waiting list, according to the NEOB. To become an organ and tissue donor, sign up with the RMV upon license renewal, sign a donor card, include a consent to donate in a health care proxy form or will and relay your wishes to family and friends.
Donor cards can be found online at www.organdonor.gov or through the NEOB at www.neob.org