St. Mary’s Hospital earns national recognition for promoting organ, eye, and tissue donatio

St. Mary’s Hospital earned national recognition for its efforts to increase organ, eye and tissue donor registrations across the state of Georgia through the DoNation Campaign. DoNation engages workplaces of all sizes and industries to highlight the importance in the lifesaving and life-giving mission of organ and tissue donation and transplantation.

St. Mary’s Hospital, in partnership with LifeLink® of Georgia, the local organ and tissue recovery program, and Donate Life Georgia, the state’s organ and tissue donor registry, earned Platinum recognition for conducting organ donation education and donor registration activities between October 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024.

During the 2023-2024 campaign cycle, St. Mary’s Hospital was one of 87 participating hospital partners within the LifeLink® service area. Through flag raisings, ceremonial honor walks, donor registration tabling events, social media, Donate Life spirt week activities, community events, media and more, new donor registrations were added to the Donate Life Georgia state donor registry.

“Promoting organ donation aligns with St. Mary’s Mission to be a compassionate and transforming healing presence within our communities,” said Stonish Pierce, President and CEO of Trinity Health Georgia. “The selfless act of donating organs is truly life-saving for recipients. It’s also a comfort and blessing for the loved ones of donors. It is heartwarming to see the lives saved and changed through LifeLink and Donate Life Georgia.”

Nationally, over 103,000 individuals are waiting for a lifesaving transplant and more than 3,000 of those individuals live in Georgia. Unfortunately, every day in the United States, 17 people pass away because an organ was not available in time to save their lives, and every nine minutes, another person is added to the national organ transplant waiting list. This ongoing need reaffirms the critical and growing need for more registered organ, eye, and tissue donors.

Anyone, regardless of their age or health, can make their decision to become a registered organ and tissue donor when obtaining a driver's license through the Department of Driver Services, when purchasing a hunting or fishing license online through the Department of Natural Resources or online by going to www.DonateLifeGeorgia.org. For more information about the DoNation Campaign, visit www.organdonor.gov/professionals/workplace.