Posted: April 4, 2019
Ron Gagnon, GRH’s president and CEO

On behalf of Grand River Hospital, I’m pleased to celebrate Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Month and thank everyone who has registered their consent at BeADonor.ca (opens in a new window)

More than 1,600 Ontarians are waiting for a life-saving transplant. We are pleased to partner with the Trillium Gift of Life Network, whose staff work with the families of patients who may be eligible to give.

One donor can save up to eight lives through organ donation and enhance the lives of 75 others through tissue donation. Age does not disqualify someone from becoming a donor. Current or past medical history does not prevent anyone from registering to be a donor. 

When an organ and tissue donation is set to take place at GRH, an interdisciplinary team takes action. Care providers on the team come from surgery, critical care, emergency, laboratory and many other areas. This team won a GRH Award of Excellence in September 2015 for their dedication.

In from April 2017 to March 2018, nine organ donors from GRH supported 30 transplant recipients and another 55 people who required tissue donations. We are proud to have won three consecutive provincial donor conversion rate awards from the Trillium Gift of Life Network. 

You can learn more about how organ donation has affected members of our hospital community. Please register your consent at BeADonor.ca (opens in a new tab) and tell your family of your wish to donate.

Organ and tissue donation at GRH: turning tragedy into hope