Organ donation awareness earns Community Healthcare System award

MUNSTER | The hospitals of Community Healthcare System have been honored for efforts to raise awareness regarding organ, eye and tissue donations. Donate Life America recently presented Community Hospital in Munster, St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago and St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart with its 2010 Award of Merit for activities and events relating to the Flags Across America program.

"The award review committee received more than 30 nominations from around the country," said John R. Dean, member services manager for Donate Life America. "All of the activities, practices and events nominated were excellent examples of how the Donate Life flag program can have such a profound impact on the lives of many."

Of the six awards, Community Healthcare System was the only hospital system recognized for the creative use of the flag program to acknowledge and honor the gift of organ, eye and tissue donation.

At the three hospitals, the "Donate Life" flag is flown in honor of a donor for 48 hours as a silent salute. Each donor family receives a card with a garden-sized version of the flag to honor the generous gift.

The system-wide gesture was coordinated by Jana Lacera, and avid gardener who serves as Community Hospital's Institutional Review Board director and as regional liaison to the hospitals' Bio-Ethics Committees. Hospital liaisons from St. Catherine Hospital and St. Mary Medical Center at the time the program was introduced are Susan Eastwood, R.N., house supervisor, Patient Care Services, and Beth Navarro, R.N., ICU/IMCU, respectively.

"Our Fly the Flag program honors donors for their precious gifts and serves as closure to grieving families," Lacera said. "One employee said that she received her card and flag on a ‘really bad day' and it made her remember that her daughter-in-law had an impact on the lives of others."

The important thing to remember is to share your decision to be a donor with your family, added Lacera.

During April - National Donate Life month - the "Donate Life" flag is flown every day and donor registration drives are held.

Under Indiana's Donor Choice Law, individuals 18 and older may declare their intention to donate, and family members cannot override that intention. Younger individuals may declare their donation intentions with the permission of a parent or legal guardian, who must also provide consent upon the minor's death.

Indiana residents can register as organ and tissue donors at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles while obtaining or renewing their drivers' license. Registration also is accepted at www.donatelifeindiana.org.