Antonia C. Novello, M.D., Commissioner of the NYS Department of Health (DOH), and Richard E. Jackson, State Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), held a press conference in Albany on June 21 to announce the formation of a statewide computerized registry to allow New Yorkers to confirm their interest in being organ and tissue donors when they die. The Registry was created through the joint efforts of DOH, DMV, and the NYS Task Force to Increase Organ and Tissue Donation, to which GNYHA belongs. Dr. Novello credited Governor George E. Pataki with helping to make the registry a reality.

The NYS Organ and Tissue Donor Registry will list all New York State residents who check the "donor" box on their DMV applications for a new or renewed driver's license, or non-driver identification card. There are plans to make registry donor enrollment cards available and to make entry to the registry possible through the DOH Web site.

Information in the registry is confidential and access will only be given to donation professionals at hospitals, organ and tissue procurement organizations, and other agencies authorized by DOH to assist in seeking consent from potential donor families. Persons who register are encouraged to discuss their plans with relatives, since family members will still be required to authorize organ and tissue donations.

Nearly 70,000 people are on organ donor lists nationwide, and 7,000 of them are in New York State. The Registry is expected to increase public awareness of the need for organ and tissue donors and assist families in making decisions when a relative dies.