
Athens
Organ donations shortage emphasized at St. Mary’s Hospital
Published February 5, 2025
ATHENS—St. Mary’s Hospital has earned national recognition for its work to increase organ, eye and tissue donor registrations through the DoNation Campaign, which highlights the lifesaving and life-giving mission of organ and tissue donation and transplantation.
The community hospital, in partnership with LifeLink of Georgia, the local organ and tissue recovery program, and Donate Life Georgia, the state’s organ and tissue donor registry, earned Platinum recognition for conducting organ donation education and donor registration activities between Oct. 1, 2023, and Sept. 30, 2024.
During the campaign, St. Mary’s Hospital was one of 87 participating hospital partners within the LifeLink service area. Through flag raisings, ceremonial honor walks, donor registration tabling events, social media, Donate Life spirit week activities, community events, media and more, new donor registrations were added to the Donate Life Georgia state registry.
“Promoting organ donation aligns with St. Mary’s Mission to be a compassionate and transforming healing presence within our communities,” said Stonish Pierce, president and CEO of Trinity Health Georgia. “The selfless act of donating organs is truly lifesaving for recipients. It’s also a comfort and blessing for the loved ones of donors. It is heartwarming to see the lives saved and changed through LifeLink and Donate Life Georgia.”
Nationally, more than 103,000 individuals are waiting for a lifesaving transplant and more than 3,000 of those individuals live in Georgia. In the United States, 17 people die daily because an organ was not available in time to save their lives.
Anyone can become an organ donor when obtaining a driver’s license through the Department of Driver Services when purchasing a hunting or fishing license online through the Department of Natural Resources.
Contact Andrew Nelson at anelson@georgiabulletin.org or 404-920-7433 with Notable ideas or submissions.