Advocate Condell Medical Center Unveils Legacy of Life Wall

Advocate Condell Medical Center has dedicated a Legacy of Life Wall to honor patients who have saved lives through organ donation.

Nearly 20 families were invited to take part earlier this month in the private dedication of the wall, which lists the names of the donors and the dates of their gifts. The Legacy of Life Wall commemorates those who are no longer with us, but whose legacy lives on in others. Some saved a life or lives through organ donation. Others made a lasting impact on those around them, inspiring family and friends to make a charitable gift to Advocate Condell Medical Center in their memory.

Organ donor family members had the opportunity to view the wall, and then listen to remarks from Advocate Condell Medical Center President Dr. Ann Errichetti and Raeann Fuller, RN, CCRN, CNML, the manager of Advocate Condell's ICU.

“This event, and this wall, is to give thanks and remember the donors for their life-saving gifts. We thank you for helping us honor these men and women,” said Dr. Errichetti. “We hope this is as special to you as it is to us.”

Two years in the making, the wall is located in Advocate Condell's West Tower, also home to a Healing Garden and a new chapel.

“It is an honor and our privilege to have met all of you and share in a difficult time in your life,” said Fuller. “Out of tragedies do come some blessed events. Each of your loved ones is living on.”

Fuller was recognized this spring by Gift of Hope with a 2011 Lifesaving Partner Award for addressing the critical need for organ and tissue donation. In October 2010, she was selected as a Regional Champion by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network for her efforts to facilitate organ donation and transplantation. The network operates under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Every time an organ donation occurs at Advocate Condell, hospital staff members raise an honorary flag for the donor.

And now, their names will be added to the Legacy of Life Wall. The hospital will pay tribute annually, in connection with the National Organ Donor Sabbath each November.

“We plan to continue to honor patients and families on that special honor roll,” Fuller said.

Advocate Condell partners with Itasca-based Gift of Hope, which provides donation education and coordination of organ donations throughout Illinois. Advocate Condell is recognized by HHS as a Bronze Medal of Honor Hospital Partner for increasing the number of organs available for transplant and achieving successful transplant rates.

“We are proud to be one of the state's top organ and tissue recovery hospitals” said Dr. Elliott Cohen, a Condell physician specializing in critical care medicine. “As part of our mission to serve our community, organ and tissue donation is an avenue that provides the families the opportunity to have some sense of closure, providing an ill patient the opportunity for a more healthy tomorrow. With this in mind we want to remember those who have given the gift of life to others through organ donation and continue to raise awareness about organ donation registration in our community.”

More than 4,700 people are waiting for organ transplants in Illinois, according to Gift of Hope, which is the federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organization (OPO) that coordinates organ and tissue donation and services to families of donors in the northern three-quarters of Illinois and northwest Indiana.