Isabelle Garilbaldi Chief Nursing Officer | Hospitals Sisters Health System St. Nicholas Hospital
Isabelle Garilbaldi Chief Nursing Officer | Hospitals Sisters Health System St. Nicholas Hospital
HSHS St. Vincent Hospital and HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center in Green Bay, along with HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan, have received the Excellence in Tissue Donation Award from the American Tissues Services Foundation (ATSF) for 2024. The award recognizes hospitals that surpass the national average tissue donation rate of 35 to 40 percent.
Since last receiving these awards in 2022, the three hospitals have reported increased tissue donation rates: 56.2 percent at St. Vincent, 50 percent at St. Mary’s, and 53.8 percent at St. Nicholas. Donations include bone, skin, heart valves, connective tissues and veins, which help patients across the country. According to hospital data, a single tissue donor can benefit about 75 people by improving mobility and independence.
In addition to tissue donations, cornea donors at St. Nicholas Hospital restored sight for 12 individuals through Lions Eye Bank Wisconsin in 2024.
“The generosity of organ and tissue donors offers recipients a second chance toward an enhanced quality of life,” said Isabelle C. Garibaldi, HSHS Wisconsin Market Chief Nursing Officer. “Promoting donor awareness and encouraging these gifts is essential to addressing the persistent shortage of available organs and tissues, which save countless lives within our community. Organ donation is a gift of life: through it, one person’s legacy becomes another’s hope.”
Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS), established in 1875 as a nonprofit Catholic health care ministry based in Springfield, Illinois, employs nearly 11,000 staff members across its facilities in Central and Southern Illinois and Eastern Wisconsin.
For more information on tissue donation or how to become an organ donor, visit ATSF or Donate Life Wisconsin online.
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