ANN ARBOR, MI— Hospitals across the state are accepting a challenge by Gift of Life Michigan to see who can add the most names to the Organ Donor Registry this fall.
The competition kicks off on Oct. 2, and it will wrap up at midnight on Nov. 10. The winners (first, second and third places) will be announced on Nov. 13. A trophy will also be presented to the small hospital (fewer than 100 beds) that is the most successful and to three individual champions who go above and beyond to register new organ, tissue and eye donors.
The award ceremony will take place at the hospital that is the most successful overall.
“Our hospital partners know better than most that with more than 3,300 critically ill patients waiting in Michigan for transplants, the need for more registered donors is crucial,” said Dorrie Dils, CEO for Gift of Life Michigan, the state’s organ and tissue recovery program. “We welcome their participation in this competition and can’t wait to see what they can do to lend more hope for those who wait.”
Hospitals will use their intranets, blogs, publications, events, social media, email, websites and table displays to sign up as many people as possible. Friends and family members of hospital employees who register using the hospitals’ custom URLs can be counted in their tallies.
To date, 60 percent of adults in Michigan have joined the Michigan Organ Donor Registry and have the red heart emblem on their state ID or driver’s license.
“We can’t thank our hospital enough for taking part in this new challenge,” Dils said. “I’m looking forward to the trophy ceremony so we can all celebrate what this will mean for so many.”
To sign up and credit your favorite hospital, visit https://giftoflifemichigan.org/, click Sign Up Now and select the hospital name from the drop-down menu.
#####
Gift of Life Michigan is the state’s federally designated organ and tissue recovery organization. It acts as intermediary between donors, their families, hospital staff and transplant centers. Gift of Life Michigan, in collaboration with Eversight, provides all services necessary for organ, tissue and eye donation.
