Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center was among the leading Southern California Providence hospitals in coordinating organ and tissue donations, and sight restorations in 2023.
Through PSJMC, donors saved the lives of 32 people via organ and tissue donations, as well as restored the sight of 24 people. There were 14 total organ donors and 25 tissue donors total in Burbank.
Providence hospitals across Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties helped save 231 lives in 2023 and improved the lives of nearly 500 more people by aiding the coordination of organ, eye and tissue donations from patients who couldn’t be saved.
“The hospital’s team, along with OneLegacy — the not-for-profit organ, eye and tissue recovery organization that coordinates donations and transplants among hospitals across the Western states — helped families fulfill the wishes of dying patients or assisting families in making that very difficult decision for their loved ones,” said Patricia Aidem, Providence spokeswoman.
Providence committed to teaming with OneLegacy in caring for dying patients and their families to save lives through donation, help the blind recover sight and provide skin, bone, tendons and ligaments and even heart valves through tissue donations. Skin is used to heal burns and other injuries, as well as in some surgeries. Bone, tendons and ligaments are also used in various surgeries.
These “selfless gifts” resulted in organ, tissue and eye donations across Providence’s 11 Southern California hospitals, providing not only life-saving organs but 228 tissue donations and corneas that restored sight for 266 people, Aidem said.
Apart from the Kidney Transplant Center at Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, Providence Southern California hospitals do not perform transplants, but care for their patients and their loved ones through the donation process.
“The commitment and compassion our nurses and other caregivers provide to our donors and to their grieving families is extraordinary,” said Daniel Kelly, RN, chief nursing officer for Providence South Division, which encompasses California. “Providence honors our donors and their loved ones who make this very difficult decision, one that has a profound impact on so many other families.”
First published in the February 3 print issue of the Burbank Leader.
