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Recipients share stories of life-saving organ transplants University of Missouri Health Care will join Midwest Transplant Network and Heartland Eye Banks in promoting Donate Life Month at noon Friday, April 25, in the main lobby of University Hospital. Speakers will include organ donation recipients and health care professionals. “University Hospital’s donor program is very successful,” said Lori Kramer Clark, hospital services coordinator for Midwest Transplant Network. “But staff members of donor programs rarely get to meet the recipients. This event will allow faculty and staff an opportunity to hear how the recipients’ lives were changed through donation and transplantation.” Nationwide, more than 98,000 people are currently awaiting a life-saving transplant. According to Kramer, a new name is added to the national transplant waiting list every 13 minutes. “On average, 17 people die every day in the United States due to a lack of available organs for transplant, and there is a serious need for minority donors,” said Kramer. “One donor can help save or improve the lives of up to 50 people.” Missouri residents are encouraged to learn more about becoming a donor by visiting the Midwest Transplant Network’s Web site at www.mwtn.org or www.hleb.org, where they can find facts and information on donation and transplantation as well as the opportunity to sign up for the Missouri donor registry. Midwest Transplant Network partners with University Hospital to provide organ donation services to the community. Using collaborative teams, they educate the public, analyze data and identify methods to consistently improve and maintain the donation services available to mid-Missourians. As a result of this collaborative effort, University Hospital’s donation rate increased from 53 percent in 2004 to more than 80 percent in 2006 and 2007. These efforts were recognized two years in a row by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services when the federal agency presented Medals of Honor for Organ Donation to University Hospital. In 2006, University Hospital was one of 14 of Missouri’s largest hospitals and the only hospital in central Missouri to receive the award. University Hospital’s kidney transplant program began in 1972. Since then, program specialists have completed more than 900 transplants, extending the lives and improving the quality of life for many Missouri residents. Midwest Transplant Network is an organ procurement organization. Founded in 1973, its mission is to provide quality transplantation-related services that will maximize the availability of organs and tissues to the community. The not-for-profit corporation serves Kansas and the Western two-thirds of Missouri. Heartland Lions Eye Banks is a division of the Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation with the mission to preserve and restore sight. Based in Columbia, Mo., Heartland Lions Eye Banks operates throughout Missouri and parts of Illinois and Kansas, providing tissue corneal transplants worldwide. University of Missouri Health Care’s system of hospitals, clinics and telehealth sites employs approximately 6,000 clinicians, scientists, educators and other health professionals. The system includes University Hospital and Clinics, Children’s Hospital, Columbia Regional Hospital, Ellis Fischel Cancer Center and University Physicians, all based in Columbia, Mo. The health system also includes a long-term acute care facility, Missouri Rehabilitation Center, in Mount Vernon, Mo. Academic affiliates of the health system include the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine, Sinclair School of Nursing and School of Health Professions. Other affiliates of the health system include Rusk Rehabilitation Center in Columbia, Mo.; Capital Region Medical Center in Jefferson City, Mo.; and Cooper County Memorial Hospital in Boonville, Mo.
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