Newswise — More than 110,000 Americans are currently waiting for life saving organs.
A simple, yet selfless decision to become an organ donor, could help transform their lives and reshape their futures - just ask any one of the many people pictured on this page.
In support and in celebration of all organ donors who give the selfless gift of life and their recipients, Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center is again proud to sponsor the Reimagined 2020 Donate Life Transplant Games, July 16 - 19, a biennial multi-sport festival recognizing the success of donation and transplantation.
This year’s Reimagined Games, organized by the Transplant Life Foundation, along with host NJ Sharing Network, transplant recipients and living donors across the country are participating in athletic and recreational competitions remotely in their home cities from April to July 1.
“The Games serve as an opportunity to show the world that having a transplant is a second chance at life,” said Michael Goldstein, M.D., director, Abdominal Organ Transplant at Hackensack University Medical Center’s Division of Organ Transplantation. “It also gives the families of organ transplant recipients a chance to display what this gift means to them.”
“Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center’s involvement in the Transplant Games underscores our commitment to providing the highest-quality transplant care, innovation through research, and support for our organ transplant recipients as well as our living donors,” said Mark Sparta, FACHE, president and chief hospital executive, Hackensack University Medical Center and executive vice president of Population Health, Hackensack Meridian Health. “Our hospital is nationally recognized for promoting organ, eye and tissue donation, and our transplant specialists are pioneers in the field.”
By combining innovative donor matching solutions, advanced technology and surgical expertise, Hackensack University Medical Center has been able to deliver some of the best kidney transplant outcomes and the shortest average deceased donor kidney wait times in the region.
And, as one of the fastest-growing kidney transplant programs in the nation, we share the goal of getting patients off the transplant list as soon as possible, so they can resume healthy and productive lives.
Additionally, Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center has a robust blood and marrow stem cell transplantation program. With more than 25 years of experience, our blood and marrow transplant specialists perform more than 400 transplants annually for a total of more than 6,000 procedures since 1990. Our program is one of the top 10 in the country for volume, which means that our specialists are among the most experienced in the nation and we have better outcomes for our patients.
Living donors are critical to the success of our transplant program, and we recognize that their selfless gift will literally save a life. At Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center, we have created a comprehensive program to ensure that the medical and emotional needs of living donors are met before, during, and after donation.
“The Transplant Games is just one more way that we — and our grateful recipients — can show appreciation for our living donors,” said David Serur, M.D., director, Renal Transplant Organ Transplantation, Hackensack University Medical Center.
For more information about Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center’s sponsorship of the Games or our transplant program, please contact Mary McGeever, 551-795-1675 or [email protected].
About Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center
Hackensack University Medical Center, a 771-bed nonprofit teaching and research hospital, is the largest provider of inpatient and outpatient services in New Jersey. Founded in 1888 as Bergen County's first hospital, it was the first hospital in New Jersey and second in the nation to become a Magnet®-recognized hospital for nursing excellence. The academic flagship of Hackensack Meridian Health, Hackensack University Medical Center's campus is home to facilities such as John Theurer Cancer Center, the Heart & Vascular Hospital, and the Sarkis and Siran Gabrellian Women’s and Children’s Pavilion. Recognized as being in the top 1% of hospitals in the nation and #2 in New Jersey by U.S. News & World Report’s 2020-21 "Best Hospitals" Honor Roll, Hackensack University Medical Center also ranked as high-performing in cancer care, cardiology and heart surgery, gastroenterology and GI surgery, geriatrics, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology, and urology. Hackensack University Medical Center’s comprehensive clinical research portfolio includes studies focused on precision medicine, translational medicine, immunotherapy, cell therapy, and vaccine development.
About The Transplant Life Foundation
As the nation’s leading advocacy nonprofit for the transplant community, the Transplant Life Foundation works every day to support, serve and advocate for transplant recipients, donor families, living donors, future recipients, and caregivers. The Foundation’s initiatives, Transplant Games of America and TransplantNATION magazine, bring together a diverse audience who demonstrate the impact of donation and transplantation and increase public awareness of the advances in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. Lastly, the Transplant Life Foundation works hard to broaden and expand the national and state donor registries by encouraging the public to register. To learn more about the Transplant Life Foundation’s work and initiatives, visit www.transplantlifefoundation.org.
About The NJ Sharing Network
NJ Sharing Network is the federally designated non-profit organization responsible for recovering organs and tissue for the nearly 4,000 New Jersey residents currently waiting for a life-saving transplant. With headquarters in New Providence, NJ, the organization is part of the national recovery system, serving the 110,000 people on the national waiting list. NJ Sharing Network was selected by NJBiz as one of the state’s “Best Places to Work” for the fourth consecutive year. To learn more, get involved and register as an organ and tissue donor, visit www.NJSharingNetwork.org.
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