Parkview lags in organ donation

The Journal Gazette | Sherry Slater
A dramatic plunge this year in the number of organ donations handled through Parkview Hospital has prompted an outcry from Indiana University’s transplant surgeons, who worry that lives are being lost as a result.

From Jan. 1 through July 31, only 1 of 11 families who were approached with information gave consent for kidneys and other organs to be removed after patients were declared clinically brain dead. That’s 9 percent, compared with the state average of 71 percent during the same period.

As a result, Parkview has revised how it approaches families of patients who are deemed appropriate candidates for organ donation.

The new process, which invites an Indiana Organ Procurement Organization staff member to join the conversation, is “effective immediately,” spokeswoman Danette Fitzgerald said Thursday afternoon. But she declined to say whether the decision was made Thursday.
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