North Bay tops in organ donor registration rate

Out of 170 communities, North Bay has the highest donor registration rate at 58 percent, to the end of September 2019.

According to beadonor.ca of the more than 47,000 health card holders in the city, over 27,000 are registered donors.

“North Bay has been enthusiastically supporting organ and tissue donation awareness for many years,” Ronnie Gavsie, President and CEO of Trillium Gift of Life Network tells BayToday. “We are thrilled to have strong support in the northern regions of Ontario and grateful for all those who have registered to be donors and continue to advocate to save lives through transplantation. Together we are changing the culture of donation in Ontario.”

Provincially, in 2019, Ontario set new records for the most organs donated and transplanted in a single year.

There were 1,386 organ transplants and 684 deceased and living organ donors, a 13% increase over the previous year.

Trillium Gift of Life Network achieved record-breaking results across its internationally-renowned organ and tissue donation and transplant system due to a combination of expanded protocols, innovative treatments and effective leading practices.

“More Ontarians than ever before gave and received the gift of life last year thanks to the collaboration among our forward-thinking hospital partners, dedicated stakeholder groups and hard-working staff,” said Gavsie. “These achievements inspire us to do more. We will continue to work with fervor toward a day when no Ontarian dies on the wait list due to a lack of an organ or tissue.”

Higher transplant numbers are partly attributable to technological and medical advancements that allow for the transplantation of organs from donors who historically would have been excluded due to prior medical conditions – these donors accounted for 21% of all organ transplants in 2019.

(File photo previously submitted)