(Springfield, VT) – April 1, 2023 – Springfield Hospital is partnering with New England Donor Services during the month of April to celebrate National Donate Life Month. This month-long celebration includes local, regional, and national activities designed to help inspire people in the U.S. to register as organ and tissue donors and to honor those that have saved lives through the gift of donation.

“More than 100,000 patients are on the U.S. wait list for a lifesaving organ transplant, but there are simply not enough organ donors to meet the growing need,” said Lyndsy McIntyre, MBA, MSN, RN, Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Springfield Hospital. “Opportunities for organ donation are rare. Fewer than 2% of deaths each year meet the medical eligibility to become donors. This is why it is so important for us all to recognize the need and to register as donors.”

A single organ donor can save the lives of up to eight people and transform the lives of as many as 75 more by donating their corneas, skin and other tissue.  Nearly 43,000 lifesaving transplants were performed in the U.S. in 2022, an increase of five percent from 2021.

“Organ and tissue donation is a remarkable gift and an expression of compassion and generosity,” said Berta Grunbeck, RN, CTBS, Hospital Relations Coordinator of New England Donor Services. “We appreciate our continued partnership with Springfield Hospital to share the importance of the Donate Life message and to save more lives through donation and transplant.”

National Donate Life Month recognizes the generosity of those who have saved and healed lives by becoming donors, while also highlighting the critical need for more people to register as donors.  Becoming an organ or tissue donor is easy. People may register at the local motor vehicle office, on their iPhone health app or online at RegisterMe.org.

To help facilitate organ recovery and placement,Springfield Hospital is one of more than 200 hospitals and 14 transplant centers in New England who work directly with New England Donor Services.

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Contact Sandy Peplau, 802-885-7686, speplau@springfieldhospital.org

About Springfield Hospital:
Springfield Hospital is a not-for-profit, critical access hospital located in Springfield, VT, serving communities in Windsor, Windham and portions of Bennington counties, in Vermont; and parts of Sullivan and Cheshire counties in New Hampshire. The hospital offers inpatient and outpatient care, 24-hour emergency care, adult day care, and specialty care services including cardiology, infusion, general surgery; ear, nose and throat; orthopaedics, pain management, podiatry, gynecology and urology. A comprehensive program of inpatient mental health services is offered at The Windham Center in Bellows Falls, VT. For more information, please visit our website at www.springfieldhospital.org, or follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SpringfieldHospitalVT

New England Donor Services coordinates organ and tissue donation in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, the eastern counties of Vermont and Bermuda. Through its federally designated organ procurement organization, New England Organ Bank (NEOB), and its centralized tissue donation services operation, NEDS serves thousands of donor families each year who have generously made the decision to donate and honors the wishes of those who registered as donors and gave the gift of life. Working sensitively with the donor families, NEDS staff leads donation authorization discussions, maintains medical support of potential donors, coordinates recovery surgeries, allocates organs according to the national transplant waiting list and directs transport of organs to transplant centers and tissues to processors.