SUNY Downstate Supports Organ Donor Enrollment Day with LiveOnNY
Oct 13, 2015
Brooklyn, NY – SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University and LiveOnNY continued their efforts to raise awareness of the importance of organ donation by recently hosting the first annual Donor Enrollment Day at Downstate.
The event was held in the lobby at Downstate’s University Hospital at Downstate to give patients, staff, and community residents convenient access to organ donor enrollment. Downstate sponsors the only transplant program in Brooklyn. The busy program has a long history of accomplishments and includes board certified transplant surgeons and a full team of transplant nephrologists, as well as highly trained transplant nurse specialists, social workers, and dieticians. In addition, clinical transplant coordinators and nurse practitioners conduct pre- and post-transplant teaching and follow-up care and remain in close contact with patients and families.
"We work closely with LiveOnNY, formerly known as the New York Organ Donor Network," said Devon John, MD, chief of transplantation surgery at SUNY Downstate. "Together, we work in partnership to support donor families and transplant recipients, and to raise awareness of the critical need for life-saving organ donations."
“We had a very successful day,” added Leslie Neve, senior coordinator of Risk Management/QAPI, who staffed the sign-up table, along with kidney transplant recipient John Morais, LiveOnNY's Alfred McDonell, and School of Public Health students Jessica Akimova and Jinhui Zhao, who are doing internships with Risk Management/QAPI. “There was a lot of interest in donation and about our program. It’s important that we continue to get the word out.”
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About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn is one of four academic health centers (AMCs) in The State University of New York (SUNY) 64-campus system and the only SUNY AMC in New York City dedicated to health education, research, and patient care for the borough’s 2.7 million residents. Its flagship hospital, University Hospital at Downstate (UHD), is a teaching hospital and benefits from the expertise of Downstate’s exceptional medical school and world-class academic center research facilities. With a staff of over 800 physicians representing 53 specialties and subspecialties, Downstate offers comprehensive healthcare services to the community.
UHD provides high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis for kidney diseases and is the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn. Beyond its clinical expertise, Downstate houses a range of esteemed educational institutions, including its College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, School of Graduate Studies, and School of Public Health. Downstate fosters innovation through its multifaceted biotechnology initiative, the Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT, which support early-stage and more mature biotech companies.