April 19, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Office: (973)
972-8761
Cell: (973) 634-8298
University
Hospital Supports National Donate Life Month this April
Celebration of National Donate Life Month to
include
Blue & Green Day, Meet and Greet with
Transplant Recipients,
Liver Transplant Team and Organ Donor Recruitment
WHAT:
University Hospital transplant recipients, employees
and volunteers will join thousands from around the country to celebrate April
as National Donate Life Month. National Donate Life Month (NDLM) was instituted by Donate Life America
and its partnering organizations in 2003. Celebrated in April each year, NDLM
features an entire month of local, regional and national activities to help
encourage Americans to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and to
celebrate those that have saved lives through the gift of donation.
The annual celebration commemorates those who:
·
have donated organs and tissue
·
have received a life-saving transplant
·
are currently waiting for a transplant and
·
have died
while awaiting a transplant.
To show support for organ and tissue donation,
employees, patients and visitors will wear blue and green.
Blue and Green Day activities this year will
include a donor recruitment event conducted by volunteers and liver transplant
recipients in the hospital cafeteria from 11:00 AM until 2:00 PM. A special
meet and greet with the Liver Transplant team will be held at 12:30 PM.
Members of the public can register as an organ
donor at University Hospital on April 21 or online: https://www.registerme.org/campaign/universityhospital
The Center for Liver Diseases and Transplantation
at University Hospital is one of the busiest centers for transplantation in the
nation. The multidisciplinary team of surgeons, hepatologists, nurses, and
other health professionals at the Liver Center offers expertise in treating
adult patients with a range of diseases affecting the liver including complex
hepatobiliary disorders such as liver tumors, Hepatitis C, biliary structures,
portal hypertension and transplantation. Each year, University Hospital
performs more than 50 liver transplants. New Jersey’s first liver transplant
was performed at University Hospital on February 14, 1989.
WHEN/WHERE:
Friday, April 21, 2017
11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
University Hospital Cafeteria (B-Level)
Newark, NJ
WHY:
Currently, there are more than 120,000 people on
the national transplant waiting list. And each day, 21 people die while waiting
for a life-saving organ. There are now over 117 million registered donors in
the United States, including nearly 2.5 million from New Jersey, but the number
of people in need of transplants continues to rise. A solution to this problem is to
continue educating the public about the life-saving and life-enhancing benefits
of organ and tissue donation and transplantation. It is important for families to have the
conversation about organ and tissue donation and make their wishes known.
# # #
University Hospital is one of the nation’s leading academic medical
centers. Located at University Heights in Newark, New Jersey, University
Hospital is a principal teaching hospital of Rutgers Biomedical and Health
Sciences and a regional resource for advanced services across many medical
specialties. For more information about University Hospital, please visit www.uhnj.org.
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