In observance of National Donate Life Month this April, Fort HealthCare has raised a Donate Life flag (April 22nd) to honor the many organ, tissue and eye donors who gave the gift of life to so many others in need.

Observed in April each year, National Donate Life Month is intended to raise awareness about the importance and need of organ, eye, and tissue donation, to encourage Americans to register as donors, and to honor those that have saved lives through the gift of donation.

“By raising the Donate Life flag at Fort HealthCare, we are honoring the donation heroes that we have cared for within our walls and signaling our ongoing commitment to ensuring that the people who need a second chance at life will get one,” said Kathleen Gebhardt, Director of Inpatient Services. “I encourage everyone who hasn’t registered as a donor to do so today, and then share your lifesaving decision with your friends and family.  Registering as a donor relieves your family of the burden of making this decision at a time of sadness and grief.”

Currently, there are more than 100,000 men, women and children awaiting organ transplants in the United States, including more than 1,500 people here in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, not all these people will receive a second chance at life.

  • Approximately 6,000 people die each year (17 people each day) because the organs they need are not available.
  • On average, 150 people are added to the nation’s organ transplant waiting list each day.
  • A single organ and tissue donor can save or heal the lives of up to 50
  • In 2021, more than 41,000 transplants from 20,300 donors brought renewed life to patients and their families and communities across the Unites States.

Fort HealthCare encourages residents in the communities it serves to give hope and help save lives by registering your decision to be an organ, eye, and tissue donor at organdonor.gov, in the Medical ID tab of your iPhone Health app, or at the Wisconsin DMV. To those who have already registered their donation decision, thank you! Help continue to save lives by sharing the Donate Life message, educating others about the need and how their generosity can help save and heal lives.

Some important facts about organ, tissue, and cornea donation:

  • Anyone can be a potential donor, regardless of age, race, or medical history.
  • More than 1500 patients in Wisconsin are awaiting life-saving organ transplants. Thousands of others could benefit from healing tissue transplants.
  • Kidneys are the organ in greatest demand—with an estimated 95,000 people across the nation awaiting one—followed by liver, heart, and lungs.
  • Because conditions such as diabetes and hypertension often are more prevalent in the multicultural community, these individuals make up more than 50 percent of those on the national organ transplant list.
  • Living donation is an option for both kidney and liver transplantation.
  • More than 170 million people are registered organ, eye, and tissue donors.