Superintendent Richard Johns announced his leave from the Liverpool School District in an open letter to teachers, students, parents and community members on March 26. The reason, he stated in the letter, was that he needs a new heart.

“If it was of my own choosing I would certainly perform my job for many more years. However, factors have emerged which will not allow me to do so,” he said in the letter.

Johns is one of 800 patients in the Central New York region waiting to receive an organ transplant, said Rob Kochik, executive director of Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network.

For National Donate Life Month in April, hospitals across the country have been promoting awareness, education on organ donation and working to expand the donor registry.

“There are not a lot of public announcements about organ donation in New York, which is why we try to raise awareness in our area,” said Kate Mitchell, head of the Donate Life campaign at Upstate University Hospital. “It’s an awareness issue, but we’re making progress.”

The 2012 census report states 19 percent of New York residents ages 18 and older are registered organ donors, according the New York Organ Donor Network’s website. The national average is 43 percent.

But in Central New York, the current average is 26 percent, Mitchell said.

In honor of National Donate Life Month, Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network officials will host a new fundraising event to connect donors with recipients called, “Giving and Receiving the Gift of Life: The Full Circle of Caring” on Friday at Strong Memorial Hospital.

“We haven’t done an event quite like this before,” said Kochik, of the Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network. “We invited donor families and their recipients, linking doctors and nurses and all of the different specialties that help us care for the donors and families, along with all the physicians and nurses that take care of recipients.”

A new video debunking myths about organ donation and hospital care will be shown at the event, he said.

“Some people think when they come into the hospital if they are an organ donor, people will not work as hard to take care of them, which is totally false,” Mitchell said. “We don’t even look for that.”

Patients are not considered for organ donation until they fail to respond to life-sustaining treatments, Kochik explained.

Upstate University Hospital officials also hosted an afternoon of performances and festivities in honor of National Donate Life Month on Wednesday, April 10. The event offered Central New Yorkers the opportunity to enroll in the registry, said Mitchell.

“We here in Syracuse try to collaborate with other hospitals in our area to show that it is a community effort to raise awareness,” Mitchell said. “It’s not one hospital competing against another — we try to make it a community effort.”

Kochik, of the Finger Lakes Network, said he encourages everyone 18 years and older to register. Younger people are often more eager to do so, he added.

But some individuals are hesitant to register, believing they are unsuitable candidates due to age or health status, Kochik said.

“We sometimes hear someone say, ‘I wear glasses, well, you wouldn’t want my corneas,’” Kochik said. “Well, no, you’re still able to help someone see again through cornea transplants. Even if someone has high blood pressure or maybe the beginning stages of diabetes, they can still donate.”

Published on April 18, 2013 at 1:32 am

Contact Joshua: [email protected]