Courtesy photo
Wave Staff Report
LYNWOOD — St. Francis Medical Center held a flag-raising ceremony April 17 to commemorate April as National Donate Life Month and to inspire people to register as organ donors.
In unison with OneLegacy, Southern California’s organ, eye and tissue recovery organization, St. Francis has facilitated hundreds of organ donations. As it raised the Donate Life flag, the hospital raised community awareness for organ donation.
St. Francis’ Chief Nursing Officer Marilou Salao opened the ceremony and explained that the flag-raising observance focuses national attention on the need for organ, eye and tissue donation and the importance of registering to be a donor. Donate Life Month honors living donors and those who have passed, and it celebrates the lives saved through organ donation gifts.
“Organ donation honors and upholds the dignity of life and aligns with our mission,” Salao said. “St. Francis is a committed supporter of organ donation, and our commitment reflects the importance and value that our doctors, nurses, leaders and staff place on every life in our care.”
Salao shared how organ donation touches the lives of caregivers, staff, and patient’s family members alike. One of the ways the hospital gives meaning to the range of emotions that can accompany organ donation — sadness, loss, gratitude, hope — is through an Honor Walk.
St. Francis Medical Center’s Honor Walk brings together the St. Francis family and the donor’s family and gives them the opportunity to pay tribute to a patient who has chosen to donate his or her organs. As the patient is taken up to surgery, physicians and staff stand side-by-side with the donor’s family and friends along the corridors.
A final touch is often shared with the patient to acknowledge and honor the person’s life and legacy.
“It is a time when the health care team can quietly and humbly express our gratitude to the patient and family members for their priceless and selfless gift,” Salao said. “It is a powerful and moving moment when we as humans share a connection with the patient and the patient’s family members in recognizing the sanctity of life.”
Organ donation involves the collaboration of departments across the hospital, including Emergency, Trauma, ICU, Respiratory Therapy, Surgery, Spiritual Care, Case Management, Social Services, among others. Each unit was recognized at the ceremony, along with the hospital’s OneLegacy representatives.
OneLegacy is the federally designated organ procurement organization serving the Southern California region. Its mission is to save and heal lives through organ, eye and tissue donation, comfort the families it serves, and inspire communities to donate life.
St. Francis has partnered with OneLegacy since the late 1960s and was pleased to welcome three of its representatives at the ceremony: Angela Bolaris, regional director for hospital partnerships; Alonzo Urita, program manager for hospital partnerships; and Maribel Meza, OneLegacy ambassador.
Bolaris thanked St. Francis for its 60-year partnership and highlighted the ways the hospital most recently helped to save and improve lives. From 2023 to present, through the donation gifts of 37 patients, 82 lives were saved through organ donation, 4,800 lives were healed through tissue donation, and 33 people had their sight restored through cornea donation.
Highlighting the personal impact of organ donation was OneLegacy Ambassador Maribel Meza, whose father decided to become an organ donor just two months before his unexpected death in December 2019. Meza recounted how his decision, one in which she had significant influence, provided a sense of comfort to her and her family.
St. Francis CEO Clay Farell offered final remarks and said, “I am always struck by how consequential the work that is done here is.
“For many families here at St. Francis,” Farell said, “the idea that their loved one’s legacy lives on through others is a powerful part of their grieving process. It is an honor for us to play our part in the journey.”
