NEW YORK STILL LAGS IN ORGAN DONATION

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

When it comes to organ donation designations, New York could do better to meet the need.

According to the US Health Resources and Services Administration, 105,800 people nationwide are waiting for an organ donation. More than 8,500 of those are New Yorkers and about 500 of those will die before they receive a transplant, according to an Excellus BlueCross BlueShield report issued March 25, 2022.

“These aren’t just statistics, but rather our loved ones, coworkers, and neighbors,” Lorna Fitzpatrick, vice president medical affairs and senior medical director at Excellus BCBS, said in a statement. “We can increase their odds for a successful donor match by increasing the number of people who register to be donors.”

On average, each donor can save eight lives and enhance 75 more.

Despite ranking as one of the highest states for donor need, only 49% of New Yorkers eligible to donate have enrolled in the Donate Life Registry; 63% is the national average.

New York-Presbyterian, a healthcare system in New York City, stated that as of 2017, New York state ranks last in the nation for the number of enrollees.

“Why it’s so low is a question that’s been asked for many years,” said Nancy Ryan, director of development for Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network, the federally designated donor recovery organization serving 20 counties in Upstate. “In New York state, we have come a long way. It’s assumed nothing has changed because we’re a low-performing state. We’ve worked hard to increase our enrollment rates.”

Ten years ago, the New York state enrollment rate for donors was 29% but is nearly 50% now, which Ryan counts as an important increase. Ryan believes that increasing the number of methods for singing up for the NYS Donate Life Registry has helped the rate inch upward. Regardless of how or where a donor registers, it goes to the NYS Donate Life Registry.

Myths about medical care prevent some people from registering, such as critically ill or injured patients receiving subpar care because doctors want to harvest their organs.

“As a physician in the ICU, we do everything we can to save our patients,” said Dorgam Badran, critical care physician at St. Joseph’s Health who chairs the organ donor council at St. Joseph’s Health.

Since St. Joseph’s is not a trans-