Hoag Promotes Organ and Tissue Donation in Statewide Effort to Save Lives
Flags displayed across California for National Donate Life Month in April
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., April 15, 2015 – This April, Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian will be joining more than 20 southern California hospitals and organizations promoting donation by displaying a “Donate Life” flag in honor of organ, eye and tissue donors.
The “Flags Across America” campaign is part of a national effort to bolster organ and tissue donor registries in April for National Donate Life Month.
On April 14, Hoag joined the “Flags Across America” campaign and will be framing and displaying the Donate Life Flag at the hospital to raise public awareness about donation, and also to honor all of the past organ, eye and tissue donors who have saved or enhanced countless lives with their generous gifts. The “Flags Across America” campaign motivates communities to consider the benefits of organ donation and to then join the Donate Life California Organ & Tissue Donor Registry.
“Organ and tissue donation can save and improve lives right here in our community, throughout the state of California and across the nation. Hoag wants to help drive that point home with this symbolic flag,” said Robert T. Braithwaite, president and CEO of Hoag. “Joining the Donor Registry gives hope to those in need of organ and tissue transplants, while leaving a legacy of generosity for the donor and his or her family.”
At present, more than 21,000 California residents are waiting to receive life-saving hearts, livers, lungs, kidneys and other organs. However, there are not enough donors to meet the growing need in the state, let alone the country. In fact, 18 people die every day in the U.S. waiting for an organ transplant and the national waiting list currently holds more than 121,000 people.
Those wishing to make the commitment to donate may register online atwww.donateLIFEcalifornia.org or its Spanish-language counterpart,www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org.
ABOUT HOAG MEMORIAL HOSPITAL PRESBYTERIAN
Hoag is an approximately $1 billion nonprofit, regional health care delivery network in Orange County, California, that treats more than 25,000 inpatients and 369,000 outpatients annually. Hoag consists of two acute-care hospitals, six health centers, and eight urgent care centers. Hoag Hospital Newport Beach, which has served Orange County since 1952, and Hoag Hospital Irvine, which opened in 2010, are designated Magnet hospitals by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Hoag offers a comprehensive blend of health care services that includes five institutes providing specialized services in the following areas: cancer, heart and vascular, neurosciences women’s health, and orthopedics through Hoag’s affiliate, Hoag Orthopedic Institute. In 2013, Hoag entered into an alliance with St. Joseph Health to further expand health care services in the Orange County community, known as St. Joseph Hoag Health. Hoag has been named one of the Best Regional Hospitals in the U.S. News & World Report Metro Edition. National Research Corporation has endorsed Hoag as Orange County’s most preferred hospital for the past 19 consecutive years and, for an unprecedented 19 years, residents of Orange County have chosen Hoag as one of the county’s best hospitals in a local newspaper survey. Visit www.hoag.org for more information.