Sault Area Hospital recognized for organ donation efforts
Sault Area Hospital is being hailed as a champion of organ and tissue donation by the Trillium Gift of Life Network. The hospital is being recognized for its efforts to integrate organ and tissue donation into end-of-life care.
The hospital is being praised on two fronts: exceeding the provincial conversion rate of potential donors becoming actual donors, and for facilitating organ donation discussions with patients nearing end-of-life.
The hospital's director of clinical programs said the latter can be very challenging work for staff.
"It is not easy for the families and loved ones either, and I am quite proud of the work that we do here," said Mindy Lindstedt. "We do often get recognition and thanks from patients and families for how well we've navigated some of those conversations and made these decisions easier on them."
Lindstedt and the hospital are encouraging everyone to register to donate organs and tissue at BeADonor.ca.
Deanna Lynn knows the importance of organ donation, receiving a lung transplant in 2012. The Orillia native remembers what it was like to take her first breath with her new lung.
"I automatically filled with such joy, I can't explain it," said Lynn. "My whole being filled with such joy that I took my first breath without help."
Lynn said she had only months to live when she received her transplant, and is forever grateful to the donor's family. Getting a new lease on life included watching one of her sons get married.
"I was on oxygen when my eldest son got married and that was horrid, walking down the aisle holding oxygen and can't breathe," she said. "But the second son after my transplant ... I've had a baby granddaughter, my other son is getting married pretty soon, I've been travelling."
Meantime, officials at Sault Area Hospital said the city exceeds provincial donor numbers with a 48 per cent registration rate, placing the Soo at 73 out of 170 communities in Ontario.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
B.C. theatre to pay $55K to neurodivergent actor in discrimination case
British Columbia's human rights tribunal has awarded a neurodigergent actor, who was diagnosed with sensory and learning disorders, more than $55,000 after finding that a Kelowna theatre company discriminated against him because of his disabilities.
Who's responsible for regulating cannabis stores operating under the sovereignty banner?
It's not quite clear who is supposed to be regulating so-called sovereign cannabis stores or even ensure they're benefiting Indigenous communities.