Hispanic Outreach

¡Bienvenidos!

The Need

Although Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment of the population in Oregon and Southwest Washington, as well as the nation at large, they remain an underserved group in the healthcare community.

Local organ procurement organizations report that:

• nearly 11 percent of those waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant are Hispanic.
• only about 7 percent of organ donors and 8 percent of transplant recipients are Hispanic. 
• 12 percent of individuals added to the local transplantation waiting list in 2007 were Hispanic.

Although it is possible for a candidate to match a donor from another racial or ethnic group, the lack of organs donated by multi-cultural populations often contributes to a longer waiting period for transplantation, especially for kidneys which require tissue matching. Approximately 70% of Hispanics on the transplant list await a kidney.

Donate Life Northwest Responds

After securing over $20,000 in grant funding, Donate Life Northwest responded to this need by launching a Hispanic Outreach program in 2007.  Education is crucial to increase the number of donors from the Hispanic community through expanded and culturally-targeted education and outreach initiatives, and this funding allows us to do just that.  Our goal is to reach 12,500 Hispanic individuals (excluding media outreach) through festivals, schools, health organizations, churches and DMV's.  This will increase the number of Hispanic donors, ultimately saving more lives, providing shorter organ transplant wait times and enhancing the health and quality of life of the 2,500 individuals still waiting in the Pacific Northwest.  

Bilingual Resources:

• General Brochure
• Spanish Brochure
• Top 10 Myths
• Paper Registration Form
• Donor Sabbath Video
• Poster

Visit the resources page to browse all materials.

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You can help!

If you are interested in helping Donate Life Northwest reach out to the Hispanic community, let us know!  There is always a need for bilingual volunteers and individuals interested in building our outreach network.  For more information about the program or volunteering, please contact:

Rachel Anderson                                                        
Program Coordinator: Education Outreach          
503-418-4035                                                            
anderrac@ohsu.edu