The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded the first Organ Donation Medals of Honor to hospitals achieving organ donation rates of 75 percent or higher in a 12-month period.

To be eligible for the Medal of Honor, hospitals must have at least eight eligible donors in a single, continuous 12-month period occurring between September 2003 and March 2005. To win the award, hospitals and organ procurement organizations (OPOs) must successfully collaborate to convert at least 75 percent of these eligible donors to actual donors. Approximately 160 of the 542 qualifying hospitals merit the inaugural Organ Donation Medals of Honor.

"Our hospital has always had a strong relationship with our OPO, the Iowa Donor Network, and our historically high rate of organ donation demonstrates that," said Sue Witte, a social work specialist in Social Services at UI Hospitals and Clinics. "The Medal of Honor recognizes the strength of our partnership even as we continue to improve our results."

The current organ donation rate at UI Hospitals and Clinics is 81 percent.

The award honors hospitals and OPOs for their exemplary leadership and commitment to organ donors, donor families and the nearly 88,000 patients on the national transplant waiting list. They earned the recognition for the effective relationships they have developed with each other that have generated these life-saving results.

For more information:

Iowa Donor Network