Lahey Hospital & Medical Center to Honor Transplant Recipients, Donors and Families

As part of National Donate Life Month, Lahey Hospital & Medical Center is hosting its annual reception to bring attention to the need for life-saving transplants, celebrate recipients, and honor organ and tissue donors who made the ultimate gift on Thursday, April 25.  Donors and recipients will reunite to share their stories of life-saving experiences they underwent at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center. Additionally, Lahey Health President and CEO Dr. Howard Grant will accept the Silver Medal Award from the New England Organ Bank, which is being presented to Lahey Hospital & Medical Center’s Transplant Department for their commitment to organ donation.         

"Thanks to groundbreaking transplant technology, and a strong partnership between Lahey  Hospital & Medical Center, the New England Organ Bank, state motor vehicle departments and Donate Life, the number of registered donors continues to rise," said Dr. Elizabeth Pomfret, chair of the Department of Transplantation at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center. "However, the number of people in need of transplants is also rising. Dr. Roger Jenkins and his team are leading our efforts to empower donors and recipients to share their stories about the life-saving effects of transplantation, and to encourage others to consider offering the gift of life through organ donation."

Those in attendance will hear powerful stories from family members, or in some cases, strangers, who gave the ultimate gift to someone in need and adults who donated organs to children through Boston Children’s Hospital program. Dr. Roger Jenkins, the chair of the Lahey Hospital & Medical Center Division of Surgery will speak about the transplant program, and his team will introduce a new donor identification program.

In 2012 alone, more than 640 lives were saved here in New England because of the generosity of individuals who became organ donors, and thousands more lives were enhanced through the gift of tissue donation.  However, the need for life-saving transplants is growing every day—more than 117,000 patients are now on the US transplant wait list—and it is crucial to educate communities about taking action to register as donors. The public can sign up through their state donor registry or online at www.DonateLifeNewEngland.org.