News from: Desert Care Network

Desert Care Network and One Legacy Foundation recognized National Donate Life Month with a flag-raising event that honored a JFK Memorial Hospital nurse who died in a tragic accident. After saving lives for many years as an ER nurse, Anabel Sanchez helped even more patients through her organ donation.

National Donate Life Month recognizes the generosity of those who have saved and healed lives by becoming donors, while also highlighting the critical need for more people to register as donors. The flag is a visible and unifying statement to inspire people to register as organ, eye and tissue donors.

“Anabel dedicated her life to caring for others — saving lives every day. Her way of continuing this was by being an organ donor,” said Kim Garcia, RN, trauma prevention coordinator at JFK Memorial and a longtime friend. “I will continue to honor her legacy here at JFK. She embodied what it is to be a nurse in the emergency department.”

The memorial event was held at 10:30 a.m. April 22 at the flagpole outside the main entrance to JFK Memorial Hospital, 47111 Monroe St., Indio.

According to OneLegacy, Desert Regional Medical Center donors helped save 20 lives in 2024 through organ donation. An additional 45 individuals were provided tissue transplants, and 30 people were given the gift of sight through cornea transplant. At JFK Memorial Hospital, 3 lives were saved through organ donation in 2024; another 11 people received healing tissue and 6 people were gifted with better vision.

Becoming an organ or tissue donor is easy. People may register at the local DMV or online at www.OneLegacy.org/Register.

About Desert Care Network

Desert Care Network represents three hospitals and related outpatient services – Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, JFK Memorial Hospital in Indio and Hi-Desert Medical Center in Joshua Tree – providing life-saving care to our communities in the Southern California desert. Our network includes three trauma centers, a stroke network anchored by the region’s only Comprehensive Stroke Center and our region’s highest level intensive care unit for newborns. We also are home to the Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Advanced Wound Healing Center and the Center for Weight Management. Find out more at www.DesertCareNetwork.com.