Forum will key on organ donation

YOUNGSTOWN -- Ohioans can now sign up to be organ and tissue donors through the Ohio Donor Registry.
LifeBanc, an organ procurement organization in Northeast Ohio, will host a public education forum about the registry and organ donation from noon to 1 p.m. July 29 in the Finnegan Auditorium at St. Elizabeth Health Center.
The registry was started after Gov. Bob Taft signed the Ohio Organ Donor Bill in December 2000. It is designed to address the critical donor shortage both locally and nationally.
More than 2,400 Ohioans are on the national waiting list for an organ transplant; of that number, more than 1,300 are in Northeast Ohio.
Donor registry brochures are available from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, which allows Ohioans to enroll at any time. Registering for the anatomical gift donation includes organs, eyes and tissue; it does not include blood, marrow or total body donation.
The Ohio Donor Registry database is confidential and is accessed by LifeBanc only at the time of death to confirm a potential donor's identity and wishes in regards to donations.
For more information about the Ohio Donor Registry or organ and tissue donation, or to register for the public education forum, call LifeBanc at (216) 752-LIFE (5433) or (888) 558-LIFE (5433).