EvergreenHealth in Kirkland, which serves both Bothell and Kenmore, is the recipient of the SightLife Vision Award, which is presented to SightLife’s top hospital partners with a demonstrated commitment to cornea donation advocacy.

EvergreenHealth has achieved a cornea donation conversion rate of over 70 percent four of the last five years, according to SightLife, a global nonprofit health organization focused on eliminating corneal blindness in the U.S. and around the world. Through nurses and other care providers working closely with SightLife professionals, EvergreenHealth successfully connected cornea donors to 163 individuals receiving sight-restoring transplants in 2014.

“Giving the gift of sight through cornea donation involves a significant level of coordination at every step of the way,” said EvergreenHealth CEO Bob Malte. “This award reflects a collective effort by our skilled and dedicated patient care teams to seamlessly work with our partners at SightLife to ensure that a family’s wishes are realized when a donation opportunity becomes available.”

EvergreenHealth Chief Nursing Officer, Nancee Hofmeister, accepted the award from SightLife representatives on behalf of the patient care teams.  She recognized the hard work by nursing leadership and staff to establish a process for cornea donation, as well as the significant contributions made by EvergreenHealth Hospice Care, which is responsible for a large percentage of the donors.

“Every family has the right to choose if they want to be an organ, tissue or eye donor,” said Bernie Iliakis, SightLife Chief Operating Officer, during the award presentation. “EvergreenHealth nurses play an important role in ensuring the process goes smoothly. With leadership’s strong support of these efforts, EvergreenHealth consistently has one of the highest conversion rates among our hospital partners in the Northwest.”

As one of the largest eye banks in the U.S., SightLife meets 100 percent of the local need for transplant tissue in the Northwest and helps eliminate the waiting list for corneal transplants throughout the U.S. In addition to supporting transplants domestically, SightLife and its global partner eye banks serve the needs of those with corneal blindness in over 32 countries.