UNMC, NHS To Hold April 20 Tree Planting in North
Platte To Raise Awareness for Organ and Tissue Donation
A tree-planting ceremony to honor organ donors and recipients will be
held April 20 in North Platte as part of “The Tree of Life” campaign being
sponsored by the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Nebraska
Health System. Twenty-three Nebraska communities are participating in the
tree-planting campaign, which is designed to raise the awareness level
for organ and tissue donation. Twelve communities held events in 1998 with
the remaining communities holding events this spring.
The North Platte event is open to the public and will begin at 2 p.m.
at Centennial Park on the side of the park that is west of Great Plains
Regional Medical Center. North Platte Mayor Jim Whitaker and several key
Great Plains Regional Medical Center officials are expected to attend.
Several organ and tissue donor family members and organ recipients from
around the area also have been invited to attend. The medical center will
host a reception near the park gazebo following the tree planting. Cookies
and refreshments will be served.
In conjunction with the tree planting, an educational presentation
about organ and tissue donation will be made 1 p.m in the Platte Room at
Great Plains Regional Medical Center. This presentation will be made by
Kolleen Thompson, manager of organ recovery services for NHS and one of
the two coordinators of the campaign.
The Earl May Nursery and Garden Center in North Platte will donate
and plant the tree, which will be a blue spruce. A permanent plaque will
be planted at the base of the tree commemorating the event.
“The “Tree of Life” symbolizes the new life organ donation has brought
to those who were dying from end-stage organ failure and those who have
given the “gift of life,” said Kevin Warneke, associate director of public
affairs for UNMC and the other coordinator of the campaign.
Other communities holding ceremonies for “The Tree of Life” campaign
include:
Ainsworth
Beatrice Broken Bow
Chadron
Columbus Fremont
Grand Island
Hastings
Holdrege Kearney
Lincoln
McCook
Neb. City
Norfolk
Omaha
O’Neill Petersburg
Scottsbluff Sidney
S. Sioux City Valentine
York
People may participate in the ceremony by giving a personal testimonial,
reading an original poem or singing a song. These activities will highlight
the importance of organ and tissue donation.
“The decision for organ donation comes at a time when a family begins
to realize their
lives will continue without someone they love,” Thompson said. “It
takes true courage and compassion to donate your loved one’s organs. The
new life that results for the organ recipient is something that will never
be forgotten.”
The campaign will help UNMC and NHS create awareness of The Lied Transplant
Center, which opened earlier this year on the UNMC/NHS campus. The 14-level
building features 44 patient care suites as well as considerable space
devoted to transplant research. Patients staying at the center take part
in an innovative cooperative care delivery system in which family or friends
serve as care partners for the basic care needs of patients receiving solid
organ or bone marrow transplants.
Despite UNMC/NHS’s stature as a leading transplant center, Nebraska
only ranks No. 24 among all states in producing donors based on population,
said Byers W. Shaw, Jr., M.D., professor and chairman of the UNMC Department
of Surgery and an organ transplant surgeon.
UNMC is the only public academic health science center in the state.
Through its commitment to research, education and patient care, UNMC has
established itself as one of the country’s leading centers for cancer research
and treatment and solid organ transplantation. More than $34 million in
research grants and contracts are awarded to UNMC scientists annually.
In addition, UNMC’s educational programs are responsible for training more
health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution.
NHS is the partnership of Clarkson Hospital, the first hospital in
Nebraska, and University Hospital, the primary teaching facility for UNMC.
NHS operates 23 clinics and health care centers serving Omaha, Plattsmouth,
Gretna and Auburn in Nebraska; Council Bluffs and Shenandoah in Iowa. In
addition, NHS operates more than 350 outpatient clinics in 50 communities
in four states. The combined hospital is an 835-bed facility and serves
approximately 25 percent of the Omaha-area market share.