The University Hospital Celebrates Organ Donation and Transplantation During Black History Month
Contact: Pat Samson 513-585-7200 02/27/2002
Cincinnati - The University Hospital is celebrating and promoting organ donation and transplantation within the African-American community with a special celebration and program for University Hospital and Health Alliance employees only on Thursday, Feb. 28, 3:30-5 p.m., in the hospital cafeteria. Highlights of the event will include a raffle for a basketball signed by Oscar Robertson (a kidney donor at The University Hospital) and two basketballs signed by the current University of Cincinnati basketball team. There will also be a short program that will be emceed by Channel 19 news anchor Regina Carswell and will feature keynote speaker Keith Melvin, M.D., Alliance Primary Care. A donor family and a heart transplant recipient will also speak and share their experiences.
Although nearly one-third of the patients waiting for an organ transplant at The University Hospital are African-American, the donation rates among the African-American community are significantly lower than the donation rates of Caucasians.
Greater Cincinnati has an African-American population of approximately 12.5 percent, yet 26 percent of all patients waiting for an organ transplant in Cincinnati are African-American. And 42 percent of all patients waiting for a kidney transplant in Cincinnati are African-American. It is important that African-American families strongly consider organ donation because successful transplantation is enhanced by matching organs between members of the same racial group.
"There is a great need for organ donations, as more than 79,000 people nationwide are in need of an organ transplant," said Edward Zavala, Health Alliance transplant administrator. "This event is a grass-roots effort to educate our employees about the importance of organ donation and the success of organ transplantation."
Opportunities for media interviews with donor families and organ transplant recipients will be available after the program at 4:15 p.m.
The University Hospital is part of the Health Alliance, an integrated health care delivery system that also includes The Christ Hospital, The St. Luke Hospitals, The Jewish Hospital, The Fort Hamilton Hospital and the physicians of Alliance Primary Care.</p><br>
