May 2009

WYFF-TV 4 & LifePoint Awareness Campaign Will Educate Viewers about Organ/Tissue Donation, Unlike Any Other Before

Upstate Campaign Begins with Hour-Long Documentary May 28 at 8PM

WYFF 4 begins the Chronicle series with Paul's Gift, airing Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 8 p.m. The program is presented with limited commercial interruption by Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center. Hosted by WYFF News 4 Anchor Carol Goldsmith and WYFF News 4 Special Reporter Jane Robelot, Paul's Gift, is the story of a local man whose sudden death saves three strangers. This family's powerful story also brings to light the tremendous need for more organ & tissue donors in the Carolinas.

WYFF News 4 photojournalists traveled the Southeast with teams of doctors as they raced to recover Paul's organs and match them with people who desperately needed a transplant. This extraordinary special chronicles the life and death struggle and the effort to save as many lives as possible. Paul's gift saves three lives, but also changed countless lives forever.

LifePoint, Greenville Hospital System, the Medical University of South Carolina and WYFF News 4 spent over two years planning, coordinating and shooting this Chronicle special. LifePoint secured the cooperation of the family of Paul Savitz to allow WYFF 4 cameras to follow the process of the family's decision and preparations for organ recovery. WYFF News 4 reporters and photojournalists worked with personnel from LifePoint, Greenville Memorial Hospital, the Medical University of South Carolina and Mid-South Transplant Foundation to document the process with the Savitz family and potential organ recipients.

The partnership between WYFF 4, LifePoint and the Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center will focus on an initiative to drive organ donation with a concerted effort beginning immediately after the show's first broadcast. The public service awareness campaign includes a call-in show, encore broadcast of the program, and ongoing organ/tissue donation vignettes during June 2009.

WYFF 4 – Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center – LifePoint Organ Donation Awareness Campaign

The day after the broadcast of Chronicle: Paul's Gift, WYFF News 4 will host a LIVE call-in show during the Friday 5-6:30pm newscasts. Volunteers with LifePoint will be on the phones at WYFF 4 studios answering viewers’ questions and providing more information on organ/tissue donation.

An encore presentation of Chronicle: Paul's Gift will be broadcast Saturday evening, May 30th at 7pm, presented with limited commercial interruption by Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center.

Beginning June 5 and continuing through the month of June, WYFF 4 will air a series of short vignettes featuring the recipient's stories from Chronicle: Paul's Gift, - focusing on the tremendous need and an appeal for organ/tissue donation. The partnership goal is to increase organ donations this month and the remainder of the year with this compelling topic.

LifePoint, WYFF-TV, Greenville Hospital System and the Medical University of South Carolina are working to see if the hour-long program can be aired on another statewide media outlet in the future. It is our desire to allow as many South Carolinians as possible the opportunity to experience this program and learn about organ/tissue donation from it.

For additional information, contact:
Mark Johnson, Media Relations Coordinator
LifePoint, Inc.
johnsonm@lifepoint-sc.org
843-763-7755