Dr. Barry is HPHA's New Hospital Donation Physician!
April 05, 2024
This Be A Donor Month, we are excited to announce that Dr. Catherine Barry is the successful applicant for the Ontario Health (Trillium Gift of Life [TGLN]) Hospital Donation Physician at HPHA!
Hospital Donation Physicians (HDPs) are key members of the multidisciplinary team at the intersection of the hospital and Ontario Health championing donation as an essential part of high quality end-of-life care.
HDPs hold shared accountability for supporting a system that ensures every eligible patient and family is offered the opportunity to consent for organ and tissue donation. By ensuring that mandatory requirements for notice and consent under the Gift of Life Act is implemented across the system, Dr. Barry will work in partnership with the Executive and Operational Leads for donation to support donation practices across the HPHA.
"I am very honoured to be given this opportunity and looking forward to working with both HPHA and TGLN to further educate and advocate for organ and tissue donation," says Dr. Barry.
Dr. Catherine Barry
We are also excited to announce that effective April 1, 2024 that our Clinton Public, St. Marys Memorial and Stratford General Hospital sites will formally participate in Mandatory Routine Notification. Mandatory Routine Notification involves notifying Ontario Health (TGLN) of all patients who are at high risk of imminent death and death. By doing so, we aim to honour patients' consent and decision to donate organs and/or tissues after death, ensuring that every donation opportunity is provided to the patient or their family/substitute(s).
We extend our heartfelt thanks to Rebecca Massecar, TGLN Specialist, for her invaluable support in training the teams at these sites since November 2023. Through her efforts, our team members have gained a deeper understanding of the clinical triggers for notification to Ontario Health (TGLN) for patients at the time of death and imminent death. This training allows us to ensure that every medically eligible Ontarian has the opportunity to donate organs and tissues at the end of life.