Great news!   St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital has been awarded the U.S. Health and Human Services Medal of Honor for achieving at least a 88 percent life-saving organ donor rate. For perspective, the national average donation rate in all hospitals is approximately 60 percent. We can be rightfully proud that St. Luke's is being honored for its exemplary leadership and commitment to organ donors, donor families and patients on the transplant waiting list. More than 95,000 patients are waiting for an organ transplant.

It's estimated that every day in the U.S., 68 people receive transplants, while 106 are added to the nation's organ transplant waiting list. In Texas, the waiting list totals more than 5,000 people. The Medal of Honor is part of the HHS Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative. Its goal is to increase organ donation rates in the top donor hospitals across the country and ultimately increase the number of lives saved through organ transplantation.

In October, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Ken Moritsugu will present the Medal of Honor to St. Luke's at a ceremony in New Orleans.