UM SRH team members and representatives of Infinite Legacy assembled on April 1 at UM Shore Medical Center at Easton for the annual Donate Life Flag Raising ceremony, honoring past organ donors and their families.
University of Maryland Shore Regional Health (UM SRH), a member organization of the University of Maryland Medical System, observes National Donate Life Month in April, honoring organ donors and bringing awareness to saving or enhancing lives through organ, eye and tissue donation.
During the past three decades, UM SRH has facilitated over 40 organ donations and over 150 tissue donations. Last year, in partnership with Infinite Legacy, a nonprofit organization that facilitates donations in area hospitals, seven donors were referred from UM SRH, a record-breaking year for donations from UM SRH facilities. From these donors, 7 organs were transplanted, saving 6 lives.
This year’s Donate Life flag-raising ceremony took place on April 1 at the entrance of University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Easton. After a Welcome by Chris Wright, Infinite Legacy’s hospital donation coordinator, and a non-denominational prayer offered by the Rev. Charlotte Meyer, remarks about the value of organ donation were offered by Kenneth “Kenny” Boyd, Infinite Legacy’s vice president and chief business officer, heart transplant recipient Sam Dey, and Angie Wicks, director of Acute & Critical Care Services, UM SRH.
“At Shore Regional Health, this work reflects who we are—our commitment to compassion, dignity, and excellence in care, even in life’s most difficult moments,” said Wicks. “Organ donation is not just a clinical process; it is a human one that requires empathy, respect and unwavering support for patients and families. Donating life would not be possible without the dedication and compassion of our staff, the incredible generosity of our donor families, and the selfless decisions made by donors. Their courage and kindness create hope where there was once loss.”
The Donate Life flag was raised after the remarks and will remain throughout April.
Approximately 108,000 men, women and children are currently on the national transplant waiting list in the U.S. A new patient is added to this list every 8 to 10 minutes, with over 90,000 of those waiting in need of a kidney. To register as an organ donor, visit any Maryland Vehicle Administration office or visit Infinite Legacy online at infinitelegacy.org.
About University of Maryland Shore Regional Health
A member organization of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health (UM SRH) is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of five counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore: Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot. UM SRH consists of approximately 2,000 team members, including more than 600 health care providers on the Medical Staff, who work with community partners to advance the values that are foundational to our mission: Compassion, Discovery, Excellence, Diversity and Integrity. For more information, visit https://www.umms.org/shore.
About the University of Maryland Medical System
The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high-quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore who educate the state’s future health care professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System’s anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit www.umms.org .
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