Avera McKennan Designates April 27 as Donate Life Day

SIOUX FALLS (April 23, 2009) – More than 100,000 men, women and children in the United States are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, and some 2,400 of these individuals live in the Upper Midwest. Every 12 minutes another name is added to the national waiting list, and each day 18 people die while they wait for their transplant.

April is Donate Life Month, and Monday, April 27, has been designated Donate Life Day at Avera McKennan, with information available in the hospital’s front lobby. A representative from LifeSource will be present. LifeSource is the non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ and tissue donation in the Upper Midwest.

 “Each individual has the power to help,” said Fred Slunecka, regional president for Avera McKennan. “One person has the potential to save or enhance the lives of up to 60 people through organ and tissue donation. If every person who could donate said ‘yes’ to sharing life, we could greatly impact the need and save many more lives.”

 Avera McKennan received the Medal of Honor for the fourth consecutive year from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2008. The medal is awarded for achieving a donation rate of 75% or higher. Only 93 hospitals have received this award four years in a row. Avera McKennan’s donation rate in 2008 was 86%.

Avera McKennan is home to the region’s longest standing kidney transplant program, since 1993, and the state and region’s only pancreas transplant program since 2003. In 2008, the Avera Transplant Institute celebrated its 500th solid organ transplant.

 The public is encouraged to get the facts about organ donation, make a personal decision and share your wishes with your family.  For more information, please visit www.organdonation.org. “Together we can save lives,” Slunecka said.