EL PASO, TX—Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare, which includes Las Palmas Medical Center and Del Sol Medical Center, will commemorate National Donate Life Month with dedication ceremonies at each hospital on Wednesday, April 6, 2016. National Donate Life Month, which is celebrated annually in April, was instituted by Donate Life America and its partnering organizations in 2003 to help encourage Americans to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and to celebrate those who have saved lives through the gift of donation.
“We are proud to honor those who have displayed one of the most selfless acts of kindness and courage, the donation of an organ to save another’s life,” Jacob Cintron, chief executive officer of Del Sol Medical Center, said. “While we recognize April as Donate Life Month, we honor our organ donors every day with memorials at each hospital.”
Patti Niles, president and chief executive officer of Southwest Transplant Alliance, will speak at both events.
Del Sol Medical Center will honor organ donors with a dedication of the hospital’s “Wall of Heroes” at 11 a.m. The “Wall of Heroes” honors Del Sol Medical Center patients who donated organs so that others may go on living fuller, healthier lives. In addition to Niles, Faith Borunda, manager of clinical services for Southwest Transplant Alliance, will be in attendance.
Las Palmas Medical Center, the only hospital in El Paso with a kidney transplant center, will dedicate its “Tree of Life” mural to kidney donors with a special ceremony at 6:00pm The 3-D mural depicts a sculpted tree displaying the names of organ donors from the Kidney Transplant Center. Hospital representatives, including Joe Vidales, director of the Kidney Transplant Center; Dr. Hector Diaz-Luna, transplant surgeon and founding program surgical director; and Dr. Carlos Del Coro, transplant surgeon, will speak at the dedication.
“This will be the first time many of our donor families will see our mural,” Don Karl, chief executive officer of Las Palmas Medical Center, said. “It’s a beautiful tribute to the Kidney Transplant Center and the lives touched by our donors.”
For more information on organ donation and transplants at Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare, visit LPDShealthcare.com.