April is the 10th annual National Donate Life Month. The celebration commemorates those who have received or continue to wait for lifesaving transplants, and honors those who have given an organ, eye, and tissue donors.

“This month serves as a time to not only honor the lives of those who have given and received, it is also an opportunity for Midwest Transplant Network to renew our commitment to saving lives,” said Jan Finn, MTN chief operations officer.

Hutchinson Regional Medical Center partners with the Midwest Transplant Network to carry on their mission to save lives. In the first quarter of 2013, the medical center had eleven eligible tissue donors and five actual donors, for a tissue conversion rate of 45 percent. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) standard conversion rate is 35 percent.

Additionally, Hutchinson Regional had three potential organ donors, two eligible organ donors and two recovered organ donors.

There are now more than 110 million registered organ donors in the U-S, including more than 900,000 from Kansas. Still, the number of people in need of transplants continues to rise. The solution according to officials is to this problem is to continue educating the public about donation and transplantation of organs and get them to make their decision known by signing up through their state donor registry.

Those interested in becoming an organ donor or for more information should visit www.mwtn.org or www.donatelifeamerica.net.