Dear Colleagues,
This week marks Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week at UHN. Organ donors are our silent heroes who give life and hope to others.
It is an honour to support and facilitate organ donation at our hospitals, as we see first hand the life saving impact of this decision. Our goal is to give all patients and families the opportunity to consider organ donation as part of quality end of life care.
I hope that staff will take the opportunity to learn more about organ donation and consider becoming an organ donor.
Right now there are nearly 1,500 Ontarians waiting for a life-saving organ transplant and thousands more are waiting for a tissue transplant. They are men, women, neighbours, brothers, sisters, children and parents.
We know talking about organ donation is not easy for everyone, but at the heart of organ donation is life, it is the chance to save a life or make one better.
One donor can save up to eight lives and enhance the lives of up to 75 others through tissue donation. It may be one of the great gifts a person can give, so it is important that you make your wishes known both to your family and as a registered organ donor. You can register to become an organ donor at anytime and starting in this summer, you will be able to register online.
All staff is invited to find out more about organ donation at our awareness events.
Thursday April 28: Tree Planting - Tree of Life @ Toronto Western Hospital, Bathurst Street Entrance, 10:00am
Organ donation registration/info booth @ Toronto Western Hospital, Main Lobby, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Friday April 29: Trillium and Recipient talk @ Toronto Western Hospital, Main Auditorium 2nd floor, 1:00pm
Bob
