Foundation Coalition Partners

 

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and the Gift of Hope are coalition partners of the Foundation. Both of these organizations are federally mandated to encourage organ donation and to procure human organs from deceased donors. The Gift of Hope was founded in 1986 to recover organs and tissues in the northern three-quarters of Illinois and northwestern Indiana.

 

The Foundation is closely allied with the primary medical centers performing heart transplant surgery and those treating advanced heart failure patients in the upper Midwest. These medical centers are among the pre-imminent hospitals treating heart diseases throughout the nation.

 

ILLINOIS AND WISCONSIN MEDICAL CENTERS

PERFORMING HEART TRANSPLANT SURGERY

 

• LOYOLA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
• UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO HOSPITALS
• NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
• RUSH UNIVERSTIY MEDICAL CENTER
• CHILDREN'S MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
• UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS MEDICAL CENTER- CHICAGO
• SAINT FRANCIS MEDICAL CENTER-PEORIA
• ST. LUKES HOSPITAL-MILWAUKEE 

 ILLINOIS MEDICAL CENTERS
TREATING ADVANCED HEART FAILURE

 

• ALEXIAN BROTHERS HOSPITAL
• CHRIST COMMUNITY HOSPITAL
• CHILDREN'S MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

 

The HAVE A HEART FOUNDATION is pleased to have recently joined the Illinois Coalition on Donation. This organization is linked to the national and regional organ transplant centers. Their mission is to encourage organ donation nationwide through various media awareness campaigns. The Illinois Coalition on Donation, the Gift of Hope, the Illinois Secretary of State's Office, and the HAVE A HEART FOUNDATION all work closely together to encourage organ donation throughout Illinois.

 

At present, 6 million Illinois residents have signed the state's organ donor registry, the largest participation in the country. Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White is responsible for this tremendous achievement. You can become an organ donor by simply signing the back of your driver's license or by writing to the Secretary of State's office. However, we suggest using the easy process of signing up online.  Jesse White deserves considerable credit for passage of the new Illinois law that ensures an organ donor's wishes will be upheld after death. In spite of the concerted efforts by various persons and organizations in Illinois and across the United States, the urgent need for transplant organs remains and far exceeds the availability of critical donor organs.