Vanderbilt Tullahoma – Harton Hospital (VTHH) team members along with Denise Fugatt and Jill Smith, representatives with Tennessee Donor Services, gathered to raise the National Donate Life flag recently. April is designated as National Donate Life Month and as such, each year members of the VTHH team work to help raise the awareness of the importance of organ donations.

In 2024, Tennessee Donor Services:

· Provided care and support to more than 750 families who said yes to organ donation

· Served 488 organ donors, who posthumously gave the gift of life to waiting patients

· Recovered 1,371 organs resulting in lifesaving transplants

· Served 2,639 tissue donors

· Added 170,000 new registration to the Donate Life Tennessee organ and tissue donor registry.

Currently there are 100,000 men, women and children waiting for a lifesaving transplant of which 2,800 are Tennesseans.  Registering to become a donor can be accomplished by simply checking yes when applying for or renewing a driver’s license.  Another method is to go to the Donate Life Tennessee website and complete the registration form. 

Vanderbilt Tullahoma – Harton Hospital is proud to be part of Vanderbilt Health for many reasons!  One of which was the recent news of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center setting a world record by performing 174 adult and pediatric heart transplants in 2024, more than any other individual transplant center in a single year.