Hospital Once Again Honored for Organ Donation
St. Louis Children’s Hospital receives three national honors for organ donation
St. Louis Children’s Hospital is the only pediatric hospital in the region to receive three national honors from the US Department of Health and Human Services for organ donation and transplantation.
During the Fourth National Learning Congress on Organ Donation and Transplantation, held in October in Nashville, Tennessee, Children’s Hospital received a Medal of Honor for achieving a 75% conversion rate for organ donation in the last twelve months. This was the fourth consecutive year St. Louis Children’s Hospital received the honor. MidAmerica Transplant Services (MTS) and eight other regional hospitals also were honored.
Additionally, Children’s Hospital was one of only three local hospitals – and the only pediatric hospital – to be honored for achieving a national benchmark for organ yield, which was set up to try and increase the number of organs obtained from each donor. The other two regional hospitals who achieved the benchmark – a 3.75 overall organ yield – were St. John’s Mercy Medical Center and St. Anthony’s Medical Center.
St. Louis Children’s Hospital experienced a growth of twenty percent in heart transplants last year as well, which helped the hospital earn yet a third award at the ceremony.
“With several hospitals demonstrating long-lasting commitment to increasing organ and tissue donations in our region,” says Dean F. Kappel, MTS President and CEO, “MTS thanks the medical professionals, hospital administrators, and hospital staff for their hard work and dedication to saving more lives through organ and tissue donation and transplantation.”