Athens, Ga. (November 26, 2024) – Piedmont Athens Regional earned national recognition for its efforts to increase organ, eye and tissue donor registrations across the state of Georgia through the DoNation Campaign. DoNation engages workplaces of all sizes and industries to highlight the importance in the lifesaving and life-giving mission of organ and tissue donation and transplantation.
Piedmont Athens Regional, in partnership with LifeLink® of Georgia, the local organ and tissue recovery program, and Donate Life Georgia, the state’s organ and tissue donor registry, earned Platinum recognition for conducting organ donation education and donor registration activities between October 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024.
During the 2023-2024 campaign cycle, Piedmont Athens Regional was one of 87 participating hospital partners within the LifeLink® service area. Through flag raisings, ceremonial honor walks, donor registration tabling events, social media, Donate Life spirit week activities, community events, media and more, new donor registrations were added to the Donate Life Georgia state donor registry.
“Organ donation is an extraordinary act of generosity that is tremendously impactful to donors, recipients, and their loved ones,” said Terri Rogers, the clinical manager of Piedmont Athens Regional’s CV ICU and organ donation program coordinator. “When someone decides to become an organ donor or their family decides to make them a donor, they are choosing to give someone on the transplant list a second chance at life. It is the greatest gift any one of us can give.”
Nationally, over 103,000 individuals are waiting for a lifesaving transplant and more than 3,000 of those individuals live in Georgia. Unfortunately, every day in the United States 17 people pass away because an organ was not available in time to save their lives, and every nine minutes, another person is added to the national organ transplant waiting list. This ongoing need reaffirms the critical and growing need for more registered organ, eye, and tissue donors. Anyone, regardless of their age or health, can make their decision to become a registered organ and tissue donor when obtaining a driver's license through the Department of Driver Services, when purchasing a hunting or fishing license online through the Department of Natural Resources or online by going to DonateLifeGeorgia.org.
For more information about the DoNation Campaign, visit Organdonor.gov/professionals/workplace.