Photo courtesy of https://cmh.ca/
Campbellford Memorial Hospital is joining Ontario Health’s Trillium Gift of Life Network to help increase organ and tissue donation opportunities. The partnership will help identify potential donors and connect families with specialized support, with a single organ donor able to save up to eight lives and tissue donation improving as many as 75.
“Organ and tissue donation has the potential to make an extraordinary difference in people’s lives,” said Heather Campbell, Vice President of Patient Care at CMH. “By joining the Trillium Gift of Life Network, we are strengthening our ability to recognize and support these opportunities, helping ensure that patients and families in our community have the opportunity to contribute to something that can change lives across Ontario.”
CMH says that tissue donation can restore sight through corneal transplants, support recovery from serious burns through skin grafts, and improve mobility and quality of life through bone grafts. Donated heart valves can also provide life-changing treatment for patients with serious cardiac conditions.
While organ donation is only possible under specific medical circumstances, tissue donation may be possible in a much wider range of circumstances. This makes recognizing and referring potential donors an especially important part of end-of-life care.
For CMH, the new partnership also provides access to specialized expertise, educational resources and support from TGLN, helping staff recognize potential donation opportunities while continuing to provide compassionate, patient-centred care.
“End-of-life care is an incredibly important and sensitive part of the work we do,” continued Campbell. “Our responsibility is to ensure patients and families receive compassionate, respectful care while also recognizing opportunities for something meaningful to come from an incredibly difficult time. This partnership helps us do both.”
As CMH begins its partnership with TGLN, the hospital is also encouraging community members to consider registering their consent to become organ and tissue donors and discussing their wishes with loved ones. Ontario residents aged 16 and older with a valid Ontario health card can register their consent or check their registration status at beadonor.ca or by visiting a Service Ontario Centre.
