Donor Alliance, UCHealth Parkview recognize National Donate Life Month
Flag raising ceremony honors heroic donors & their families
Pueblo, Colo. (April 8, 2023) UCHealth Parkview joins with Donor Alliance to #Shine-A-Light on the importance of organ, eye, and tissue donation for National Donate Life Month.
“UCHealth is proud to join with Donor Alliance to honor the generosity of organ, eye and tissue donors and their families and commemorate all transplant recipients in the United States throughout the month of April,” said UCHealth Parkview President Darrin Smith. “Last year, Parkview had 8 organ donors, resulting in 22 lives being saved. Additionally, there were 45 tissue donors resulting in just over thirty three hundred patients (3375) receiving a lifesaving and healing tissue graft.“
UCHealth Parkview Medical Center employees, Donor Alliance leadership, and the public gathered at the front entrance flagpole on Monday, April 8, 2024, to thank those who have signed up as donors and to also acknowledge the need for continued donations for the around 1300 Coloradans who await lifesaving transplants across our region.
“Our message today is simple,” said Maggie Welte, Chief Nursing Officer for UCHealth Parkview. “By registering as an organ and tissue donor, you can bring hope to patients and families who are holding out for a miracle. We encourage the community to sign up for the donor registry and increase the chance that patients who are waiting will get the transplants they need to survive.”
Featured speaker was Lori Pratt, donor mother and Pueblo-native. Her 19-year-old son, Jerico, passed away in 2021. He was a registered organ, eye and tissue donor.
“His gifts of life and the four people he was able to save is just the start,“ said Pratt. “It just doesn’t impact the recipient - it goes well beyond that. It affects their families, their friends, and their whole community. In donation, one life lost positively affects hundreds, if not thousands of lives.”
Over the last 5 years at Parkview, 31 organ donors and 95 organs transplanted resulted in 82 lives being saved. 242 tissue donors resulted in ~18,100 lives healed.
UCHealth Parkview encourages Pueblo and the southern Colorado community to join in and raise awareness of the importance of registering as a donor.
“Coloradans are incredibly generous and currently,” said Jennifer Muriett, Chief Operating Officer with Donor Alliance. “Our state has the highest donor designation rate in the country with 66% of Coloradans signed up as organ, eye, and tissue donors. But the wait list does not wait, and we work towards each and every donor gift as an opportunity to save lives in our community.”
