Three doctors at Northern Michigan Regional Hospital were honored recently for their efforts with patients and families in organ donation.
Gift of Life Michigan hospital development associate Dusty DeHaven presented an award to Dr. David Knitter, Dr. Jeffrey Washington and (absent from the presentation) Dr. Dwayne Griffin, of the Center of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine in Petoskey.
The doctors work with Gift of Life to determine viability of organs for donations and coordinate the hospital’s involvement in the organ donation process.
“Having physicians like these who champion the cause of organ donation is critical to honoring the wishes of families and to saving lives through the miracle of transplantation,” said Richard Pietroski, Gift of Life Michigan’s executive director. “I applaud their commitment to serving these families during their time of grief, while providing a chance at new life for the more than 3,000 people in Michigan who need an organ transplant.”
In particular, the pulmonary physicians were recognized for their skill in handling donation after cardiac death. DCD is the recovery of organs from a donor whose heart has naturally and irreversibly stopped beating, versus the more standard organ donation after brain death.
“Pursuing this practice is an important service to patients who had previously designated their wish to become organ donors, and to families who wish to donate their loved ones’ organs,” Pietroski said. “DCD allows more lives to be saved, which is especially significant as the national waiting list for an organ transplant recently surpassed 100,000 people.”
Dr. Knitter said working with families for a donation after cardiac death can be a trying time for both the surviving family members and the staff, because these patients are typically being kept alive by machines only. Once the machines are turned off, it can take hours or days for the patient to pass away naturally. Gift of Life surgeons who travel to the hospital are on stand-by during the wait, and the local physicians and nursing staff must keep organs alive so they can be donated.
It’s an intense process that can have a profound impact on the staff as well as the family, the doctors said, which is made more comforting in knowing other lives are saved.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Washington said. “It’s the ultimate gift.”
DeHaven said the local doctors received one of three awards bestowed in the last year to recognize their commitment to the cause.
“Northern Michigan Regional Hospital has embraced the importance of organ donation from top to bottom,” she said. “It’s an honor to collaborate with these physicians and the entire staff on this life-saving mission.”
Register online
Sign up to be a donor online at giftoflifemichigan.org, or call (800) 482-4881. You’ll get a “donor” heart sticker for your driver’s license. This a better method than simply signing the back of your license to ensure your wishes to be a donor.
Everything you need to know about organ donations: www.organdonor.gov.
Next month, April, is National Donate Life Month.
Staggering numbers
In the U.S., 95,000 people are in need of an organ for transplant.
Approximately 35,000 children and adults in the U.S. have life-threatening blood diseases that could be treated by a marrow/blood stem cell or cord blood transplant.
In Michigan, as of Feb. 1, 2009, 3,021 residents were waiting for a transplant of organs including kidney, liver, lung, pancreas and heart.
Every day hundreds of people in Michigan are in need of other tissues such as heart valves, veins, tendons, bones and corneas.
Local donors give the gift
In 2008, 922 organs were transplanted to Michigan patients.
At Northern Michigan Regional Hospital in 2008, 6 donors were able to give 21 organs, saving 18 patients’ lives.
Support for donors’ families and recipients
Local support group: Organ Transplant Support Group of Northern Michigan, founder Bev Cherwinski, Vanderbilt; group meets in Gaylord; call (989) 983-4188 for more information.