Salinas, Calif. – November 6, 2017 – Natividad Medical Center (NMC) has received the Emerald Award from Donor Network West, the organ and tissue recovery organization for Northern California and Nevada, for its excellent collaboration and communication to ensure a cohesive organ donation process. The award honors NMC for meeting or exceeding 2016 key donation criteria in combination with extraordinary efforts to engage the community around donation.

Dr. Andrew McCague, trauma surgeon and co-director of the ICU at NMC, accepted the plaque during Donor Network West’s Strength in Numbers Donation Symposium at the Oakland Convention Center on October 4. 

“We’re honored to receive this award because organ donation has always been a priority for us,” said Dr. McCague. “We were able to increase the number of organ recipients at Natividad by 40 percent from 2015 to 2016, and we continue to raise awareness in our community about the importance of becoming a donor to help save lives.”

“The life-healing decisions made by donors and their families paired with the tireless efforts of our partner hospitals, are transforming lives in the communities that we serve together. We commend NMC for their award and thank them for giving hope to those who are still waiting for a second chance at life,” says Brandy Gleason, director of hospital services of Donor Network West. 

Donor Network West serves 175 hospitals and more than 13 million people within 100,000 square miles in Northern California and Nevada. The organization works in close partnership with families, doctors, nurses, more than 500 funeral homes, and 44 coroners and medical examiners to connect donors to recipients in 40 counties.

NMC was also previously recognized with a Silver award from the Health Resources & Services Administration’s (HRSA) Workplace Partnership for Life campaign, a national initiative that unites the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the organ donation community with workplaces throughout the nation to spread the word about the importance of donation.

About 420 people are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant in Monterey County. One organ donor can save the lives of up to eight people and a tissue donor can heal more than 75 others. Anyone can register as a donor at DonorNetworkWest.org or at the DMV. 

About Donor Network West
Donor Network West saves and heals lives by facilitating organ and tissue recovery for transplantation. The organization was established in 1987, and is an official Donate Life organization accredited by the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO) and the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB). Federally designated to serve 40 counties in northern California and Nevada, Donor Network West partners with the Department of Motor Vehicles and the state-authorized donor registries. For information, visit DonorNetworkWest.org and find us on social media: @mydnwest

About Natividad Medical Center (NMC)
Owned and operated by Monterey County, NMC is a 172-bed, acute-care hospital providing health care services to county residents for more than 132 years. Based in Salinas, California, NMC offers inpatient, outpatient, emergency, diagnostic and specialty medical care. NMC provides more than 38,000 patient days of care each year and has more than 52,000 emergency department visits per year. NMC is a Level II Trauma Center providing the immediate availability of specialized personnel, equipment and services to treat the most severe and critical injuries. NMC’s Trauma Center is a vital community service locally that saves lives and eliminates the need to fly critically injured patients to a distant trauma center. NMC is ranked No. 1 in newborn deliveries in Monterey County and is the only teaching hospital on the Central Coast through its affiliation with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). With a medical staff of more than 350 physicians, NMC’s mission is to continually monitor and improve the health of the people, including the vulnerable, in Monterey County through coordinated, affordable high-quality health care. For more information, please call 831-755-4111 or visit www.natividad.com.