|
THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 27, 2002
|
||
 |
|
And Tissue Donor Registry
Many New Yorkers Await Transplants
As New Yorkers make their New Year’s resolutions for 2003, the New York Organ Donor Network is asking everyone to make a difference by enrolling in the New York State Organ and Tissue Donor Registry, and informing their families of their decision to become a organ donors.
“During this time of personal rededication for the new year, we hope all New Yorkers will resolve to give the greatest gift of all; the gift of life,” says Elaine Berg, president and CEO of the New York Organ Donor Network, the federally designated nonprofit organ procurement organization serving the Greater New York metropolitan area. “There are more than 8,000 New Yorkers on the organ transplant waiting list. One donor can save up to eight lives through organ donation and can improve the lives of dozens through corneal, bone and other tissue transplants.”
The Donor Network makes it easy for New Yorkers to indicate their willingness to become organ and tissue donors. They can do so by signing a driver’s license; enrolling in the New York State Organ and Tissue Donor Registry, a confidential database administered by the New York State Department of Health; or by filling out a Health Care Proxy form, which indicates both an individual’s wishes regarding extraordinary or “heroic” medical measures, and one’s wishes regarding organ donation. Because the Donor Network requires family consent for organ and tissue donation, potential donors should always discuss the decision of donation with their next of kin.
For more information about the New York State Organ and Tissue Donor Registry, call the New York Organ Donor Network at 1-800-GIFT-4-NY or go on-line to www.nyodn.org
Founded in 1978, the New York Organ Donor Network will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2003. The Donor Network serves 13 million people in the five boroughs of New York City, Long Island, Orange, Dutchess and Rockland counties in New York and Pike County, Pennsylvania. It is dedicated to the recovery of organs and tissues for people in need of life-saving and life-improving transplants, while fostering awareness and understanding of organ and tissue donation among health care professionals and the general public.