The Gift of Life Through Organ Donation
The greatest gift one person can give another is the gift of life. Many people see organ donation as a legacy they can leave that will last long after they are gone.
According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, more than 103,000 people are on the national transplant waitlist, with one person added about every 10 minutes. Upwards of 20% of the patients on the national waitlist reside in California. The majority of people on the national and state lists require a kidney transplant.
Southwest Healthcare Palmdale Regional Medical Center, along with OneLegacy, the organ procurement organization serving Southern California, are committed to facilitating and honoring the gift of organ and tissue donation.
Tackling a national problem locally
With about 20,000 Californians on the transplant waitlist, there is an urgent need for local awareness and engagement. “When we’re talking about organ donation, we are talking about people in our communities — hyperlocal — that are in need of this lifesaving gift,” says Colleen Okyere, Regional Manager of Hospital Partnerships at OneLegacy.
Organ procurement organizations, or OPOs, like OneLegacy play a critical role in the organ donation process. They act as a bridge between hospitals, like Palmdale Regional; donors; and transplant recipients. OPOs facilitate donor registration, coordinate organ allocation and work with donor families. OneLegacy’s responsibilities also extend to community outreach and providing long-term support for families of organ donors.
How organ donation works at Palmdale Regional
At the hospital level, staff members play a crucial role in the initial stages of the organ and tissue donation process. They assess critically ill patients heading toward the end of life and if the criteria are met, contact OneLegacy to determine if the patient is a registered donor. The hospital does not have access to the registry. If a patient is not registered as a donor, their family must decide.
Cory Murphy, Nurse Manager of the Intensive Care Unit, explains: “It’s never for us to discuss with the family. We kind of take a backseat until anything has been mentioned.”
Organ donation can be difficult for the families of donors. Choosing the moment to contact the family is sensitive. Once a patient is taken off a ventilator, they are no longer organ donor candidates. The subject is broached by OneLegacy, typically when families face planning for end-of-life care for their loved one.
“OneLegacy has a section of our organization that supports families as they go through the grief journey and for years afterwards,” Okyere says.
The organization also has an Ambassador Program, where families and organ recipients share their stories to honor donors and raise awareness in the community. “Most of our ambassadors don’t ever want their loved one to be forgotten,” she shares.
Once a patient is deemed a donor after extensive testing, OneLegacy works with UNOS, the United Network for Organ Sharing, to find potential recipients to match. Meanwhile, the Palmdale Regional team provides their family with one-on-one support, offering comfort during a profoundly emotional time.
When a recipient match is found, surgeons at Palmdale Regional remove the donor organ(s) for transplantation.
Preserving dignity and honoring the gift
At Palmdale Regional, donor patients and their families are recognized with an Honor Walk. “We announce it overhead and everybody that is available that works in the hospital is lined up in the hallways, and we do an honor walk as the patient is brought to the OR,” Murphy explains. “It is the most beautiful thing to watch, and I think families really feel touched by it and see that their loved one is being honored.”
Murphy’s nurses also found special ways to celebrate patient donors and their families. “They create these little glass jars with the patient’s heart rhythm in it so families can have their last heart rhythm,” Murphy says. “They’ve made Build-A-Bears® where we’re able to get the audio of their heartbeat and we’re able to put it into a Build-A-Bear if there are children.”
In addition, OneLegacy participates in the annual Pasadena Rose Parade with a float featuring roses commemorating donors. Murphy, herself a donor parent, recalls, “I remember sitting and watching the Rose Parade to see my son’s rose on the float.” Such tributes provide comfort to grieving families, honoring their loved ones while symbolizing the powerful impact of their gift.
SOURCES: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Donate Life America