State officials and representatives from Delaware’s healthcare community joined with the Gift of Life Donor Program Friday to launch the Delaware Donation Performance Improvement Initiative.
The program will disseminate critical information and best practices to all Delaware hospitals in the hopes of increasing the amount of life-saving organ transplants in the First State. Officials hope the initiative will also achieve consistency in practice across Delaware’s hospitals.
Howard Nathan, the president of the Gift of Life, says organ donation is a practice that could always be improved.
"Most people think in medicine that everybody knows everything about what to do. And that’s true in many cases, but in this case, when you’re dealing with end of life issues, when you’re offering donations, it’s important for people to share what they’ve learned over the years about how they approach families, how they make referrals to the Gift of Life and how we integrate our services together," said Nathan.
Nathan adds that while Delaware already has one of the best organ donation rates in the country due to most residents identifying as organ donors on their driver’s licenses. Still, he says there is more work to be done.
"That’s just the first step," said Nathan. "Certainly we want more people to sign up, and this initiative is to get hospitals to make sure they’re looking for times that donations can be made in a caring and sensitive way."
The new initiative was unveiled by Health Secretary Rita Landgraf and living organ donor House Speaker Peter Schwartzkopf (D-Rehoboth Beach) at Legislative Hall in Dover Friday.
