Rutland Regional Medical Center to Participate in Donate Life Vermont Register Rally

Rutland, VT – December 1, 2011

To kick off the season of giving, Rutland Regional Medical Center is taking part in Donate Life Vermont’s organ donor awareness campaign “Register Rally”.  The Register Rally is a friendly competition between participating Vermont hospitals to increase the number of official state organ and tissue donor registrants in the state of Vermont. Currently, less than one percent of the Vermont population is officially registered on the state’s organ and tissue donor registry. The goal of the rally is to register 5,000 Vermonters as organ and tissue donors in a month starting November 21 and running through December 21.

“Rutland Regional supports giving the gift of life and will be working closely with Donate Life Vermont to help spread the important message of becoming an organ and tissue donor in Vermont” states Melissa West, Community and Provider Relations,Rutland Regional Medical Center.

Donate Life Vermont is an initiative sponsored by the Center for Donation and Transplant that aims to raise awareness for organ and tissue donation in the state of Vermont through social avenues. Vermont is one of the only states in the country to not yet be linked with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).  Typically, a DMV link results in an average of 98% of a state’s registrants, making social outreach even more important in Vermont. 

“We value partnerships with our community and are excited to begin our outreach efforts with our participating hospitals,” states Andrew Sigond, Hospital & Community Services Specialist at the Center for Donation and Transplant, “we look forward to the community coming together to help us reach our goal.”