U.S. Department of Health and Human Services honors
Sacred Heart Hospital for organ donation efforts

Eau Claire, Wis. – Wisconsin’s continued commitment to organ donation is gaining national attention, and the work of physicians and staff at Sacred Heart Hospital plays a large role in that reputation. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Service Organ Transplantation Breakthrough Collaborative is recognizing Sacred Heart with a Medal of Honor for its work in achieving a 75 percent donation rate, meaning three-fourths of the people who were eligible to be an organ donor became one. The national average is 60 percent.

The Health and Human Services Medal of Honor will be presented to about 320 hospitals at the National Organ Donation Learning Congress on Oct. 9 and 10 in Nashville, Tenn. Sacred Heart Hospital is among 14 in Wisconsin to earn the honor.

Every day in the United States, 18 people die waiting for an organ transplant. Last year, the UW Health Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) –– the federally legislated OPO that serves Sacred Heart Hospital –– worked with 117 donor families, resulting in 546 transplants. Nationally, a new patient is added to the transplant waiting list every 13 minutes.

"Organ donation arises out of stressful and difficult circumstances for the patient's family as well as the medical staff caring for the patient," says Phillip Porter, M.D., neurological surgeon and interventional neuroradiologist at the Brain & Spine Institute at Sacred Heart Hospital and a member of the OakLeaf Medical Network. "It requires both parties to reach to a higher level, but the result of doing so provides a tremendous sense of satisfaction. My hope is that receiving positive feedback in the form of this award will further strengthen the commitment of the medical and lay community of the Chippewa Valley to this important cause."

Nationwide, more than 97,000 patients are waiting for their second chance at life through an organ transplant. Nearly 1,500 of these patients live in Wisconsin.

Because organ donation happens in hospitals throughout the state, the UW Health OPO works closely with 104 hospitals in Wisconsin, upper Michigan and the Rockford, Ill., area. The OPO team travels to hospitals to provide education, leadership, clinical practice and inspiration on organ donation and transplantation best practices. Their service area was the only one in the nation to be recognized for their work in every performance area.

"Our relationships with our hospital partners are imperative to our success," says Dr. Tony D’Alessandro, executive director of the UW Health OPO. "Without each hospital’s commitment to both ongoing education and sensitive patient communication, the state’s organ donation rates would decline and many more people would die while waiting for an organ donor."

D’Alesandro calls Wisconsin a "generous" state. According to the Department of Motor Vehicles, D’Alessandro says, "Wisconsin residents are saying ‘yes’ to organ donation more than half of the time."

People who wish to become an organ donor should sign their driver’s license and tell their family.

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Sacred Heart Hospital is an affiliate of the Hospital Sisters Health System. Since 1889 it has been meeting patient needs in western Wisconsin with the latest medical innovations and technology, together with a Franciscan whole-person healing tradition.