HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Midwest Transplant Network (MTN) recognized Hutchinson Regional Medical Center with the Excellence in Tissue Conversion Award for 2018 for the hospital’s efforts to promote tissue donations.

Hospitals receiving the Excellence in Tissue Donation Award had at least 15 eligible tissue donors with more than 40 percent of families granting authorization, statistics that were exceeded by Hutch Regional.

MTN officials held a ceremony in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Courtyard. The ceremony included a reading of the first names of 28 donors followed by a candle lighting ceremony in memory of those who gave a part of their life to continue the lives of others. Grains of sand symbolizing the many people impacted by the donors were sprinkled into a vase. That vase will remain at Hutch Regional to be filled with colored sand during future annual award presentations. An original piece of art created by Jody Ayers, a glass artist in the Kansas City area, was presented to Hutch Regional in honor of the hospital’s efforts promoting tissue donations.

MTN is headquartered in Westwood, Kansas, and serves hospitals in Kansas and the western two-thirds of Missouri.