News
U.S. Government Awards Eden Medical Center Medal of Honor
Department of Health and Human Services recognizes efforts to increase organ donations
CASTRO VALLEY, Calif., December 4, 2008 - Sutter Health affiliate Eden Medical Center will receive the Organ Donation Medal of Honor in a special ceremony on December 5 to recognize its efforts to increase the donation of organs to patients awaiting transplants. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the award recognizes Eden for successfully securing organ donations from 75 percent or more of its eligible donors over the course of 26 consecutive months.
“We’re proud of our work to ease the burden on families who make the decision to donate,” said Rose Corcoran, vice president of patient care at Eden Medical Center. “We make every effort to coordinate communication between our unit physicians, nursing directors, and staff in order to help family members realize that something positive can come out of the tragedy of losing a loved one, because another patient’s life can be saved through organ donation.”
According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, more than 100,000 people are waiting for organ transplants nationwide. California has 21 percent of the nation’s waiting list, with 10 percent of those patients living in the San Francisco Bay area.
The award to Eden – which is one of 412 hospitals across the nation chosen for the honor this year – highlights the hospital’s participation in the HHS Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative. The collaborative brings together donation professionals and hospital leaders to identify and share the best practices for supporting families and clinically managing patients who are organ donor candidates. The success of the collaborative made it possible to transplant 3,905 more organs from deceased donors in 2007 than in 2003, the year the initiative was launched.
As part of the criteria for the Medal of Honor, the collaborative set a goal of increasing the “consent rate” to 75 percent, meaning that of the total number of potential donor patients at a facility, fully three-quarters of the families of those patients would consent to the donation. During 2007, Eden secured permission for organ donations from 75 percent of eligible donors; and from January through September of this year, the hospital reached a 100 percent consent rate, with an average of 3.75 organs per donor.
One of the organizations partnering with Eden to promote organ donations is the California Transplant Donor Network (CTDN) (www.ctdn.org), a non-profit based in Oakland that works with more than 160 donor hospitals in Northern and Central California, and Northern Nevada.
According to CTDN, each year in the U.S., approximately 15,000 people die under conditions that make them medically suitable as organ donors, while18 people die daily awaiting a transplant. CTDN, which offers ongoing support to donor’s families, also reports that in the last 20 years, 53,504 people have had organ transplants in California.
“Organ donation can offer a second chance at life for some patients,” says Cindy Siljestrom, Chief Executive Officer of CTDN. “And through its efforts to increase the number of donors, Eden is leading the nation by example. We sincerely congratulate their staff on the tremendous effort they have put forth to earn this award.”
At the ceremony on December 5, slated to be held at the Eden Conference Center at the Castro Valley campus, at 1:00 PM, CTDN CEO Siljestrom will present the HHS medal to George Bischalaney, CEO of Eden Medical Center.
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About Eden Medical Center
Eden Medical Center is a full-service, 387-bed medical center with campuses in Castro Valley and San Leandro, serving the health care needs of residents of Alameda County and surrounding communities. Eden is the regional trauma center for Southern Alameda County and features many centers of excellence, including neurosciences, orthopedics, rehabilitation, women's health, adult psychiatry, and cancer care. Eden Medical Center is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Through our affiliation with Sutter Health, Eden Medical Center is part of a large network of non-profit hospitals and care centers in Northern California and is linked to nearly 30 acute care hospitals and 4,000 physicians throughout the region. Together, we're working to improve the health of our communities. For more information, please visit www.edenmedicalcenter.org.
About Sutter Health
Serving patients and their families in more than 100 Northern California cities and towns, Sutter Health doctors, hospitals and other health care service providers join resources and share expertise to advance health care quality and access. The Sutter Medical Network includes many of California’s top-performing, highest quality physician organizations as measured annually by the Integrated Healthcare Organization. Sutter-affiliated hospitals are regional leaders in cardiac care, women’s and children’s services, cancer care, orthopedics and advanced patient safety technology. For more information about the not-for-profit Sutter Health family, please visit www.sutterhealth.org.
Eden Medical Center Contact
Gwendolyn D. McClain
Director of PR & Government Affairs
(510) 727-2720 office
(510) 305-6579 cell
mcclaigd@sutterhealth.org
Sutter Health Contact
Brian Hudson
Communications Coordinator
(916) 286-6798 office
(916) 286-6695 media line
cthudsb@sutterhealth.org