Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency to Donate Bricks for Organ Donors at LGMC

Donated organs, tissues and eyes may last a lifetime, but the legacy of donors can go much longer than that. Donors at Lafayette General Medical Center (LGMC) now get an engraved brick at the hospital, thanks to a cooperative agreement between Lafayette General Foundation, Southern Eye Bank (SEB) and Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency (LOPA).

La Place de Vie, a bricked courtyard located next to LGMC’s main entrance, offers patients, families, visitors and employees a quiet place to enjoy a moment of tranquility or reflection. The courtyard also features engraved bricks, pavers, benches and plaques purchased by patrons of the hospital or by those wanting to honor a newborn or a loved one. The engravings are sold through the Foundation, Lafayette General’s philanthropic agency.

With this agreement, the Foundation has agreed to set aside a brick for every person who donates any organs, tissues or eyes to honor their memory. LOPA and SEB will work with the donor families to coordinate etching for each brick. All bricks reserved by LOPA/SEB at the end of the year will be unveiled at the annual National Donate Life Month flag-raising ceremony held at the hospital each April.

“We have always been well accommodated by Lafayette General in honoring our donor families,” says Libbie Harrison, LOPA Family Service Coordinator. “This is a great way to honor those that gave the gift of life.”

The relationship between Lafayette General Health, LOPA and SEB has flourished for several years. The construction of La Place de Vie, whose name in French means “A Place of Life,” was built with LOPA ceremonies in mind. LOPA raises a “Donate Life” flag every for every organ donor at LGMC. La Place de Vie features a flagpole in the middle of the courtyard for this very purpose. This year, Southern Eye Bank named LGMC its Hospital of the Year for the fifth time, based on its eye donor facilitation.

“Donors and their families should know that they will be treated with honor and respect at this facility and, now, permanently memorialized at La Place de Vie,” says Cian Robinson, Lafayette General Foundation Executive Director. “We are humbled by LOPA and Southern Eye Bank’s generous show of support for their donor families.”

The annual Donate Life flag-raising ceremony at La Place de Vie, honoring organ tissue and eye donation, hosts donor families and recipients, a butterfly release, a flag-raising and Quilt of Life display, amongst other activities.

For more information about organ, tissue and eye donation, visit LOPA.org or call 800-521-GIVE (4483). To learn more about the brick engraving program at LGMC through Lafayette General Foundation, call (337) 289-8954 or visit our foundation pages.