Vol. 12, No. 1 winter 2007 What’s Inside: 2 Dear Friends and Colleagues; STA Honors Donor Families During National Organ Donor Month; STA Family Member Honored at Sierra Medical Center; News & Notes 3 Our Volunteers Just Keep Spreading the Word; Bravo! Bravo!; Who’s New 4 Getting to know Texas transplant recipients; What’s Coming Up; By the Numbers I DRISCOLL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL APPROVED BY UNOS TO PERFORM PEDIATRIC KIDNEY TRANSPLANTS New Horizons is published quarterly by Southwest Transplant Alliance for its employees and friends. Driscoll Children’s Hospital was approved by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and Medicare in September to perform pediatric kidney transplants. Driscoll is the only hospital approved to perform transplants in Corpus Christi and one of two in South Texas authorized to do them, according to UNOS. Before Driscoll was approved, any Corpus Christi child needing a transplant was sent to San Antonio, Houston or Galveston. Two children already are on the waiting list at Driscoll. With the launch of the new program, South Texas children with end-stage renal disease are able to receive quality nephrology and surgical care closer to home. Children and their families will benefit from Driscoll’s kidney transplant program’s specialized care provided by an experienced team led by pediatric transplant surgeons and pediatric nephrologists. In addition, pediatric subspecialists, nurses, dieticians, social workers, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals round out the team. Driscoll’s staff will assist, counsel, and educate families through dialysis, pre- and post-operative requirements, and dietary changes so that they may successfully manage their child’s health and emotional needs. Southwest Transplant Alliance (STA) welcomes Driscoll Children’s Hospital as the donation agency’s 11th transplant center. STA now works with six transplant hospitals in Dallas (Children’s, Baylor, Medical City, Methodist, Parkland and St. Paul) and with Driscoll, East Texas Medical Center in Tyler, Sierra Medical Center in El Paso, Scott & White Hospital in Temple and UT Medical Branch in Galveston. I STA member hospitals honored at the National Collaborative in New Orleans STA staff with hospital colleagues as all are honored at the National Collaborative in New Orleans for their roles in increasing organ donation. 24-hour referral line – 800-201-0527 STA Headquarters – 800-788-8058 Website – www.organ.org Page I I TEXAS REGISTRY UP AND RUNNING! 2006 was an important year for Southwest Transplant Alliance. We instituted several new services that we believe will increase the number of opportunities to save lives through transplantation. First, we started our machine preservation laboratory for kidney preservation. At the recommendation of our Medical Advisory Committee, Southwest Transplant Alliance began preserving kidneys from expanded criteria donors and from donation after cardiac death donors, on preservation machines. The results have been significant as we have improved our pre-transplantation diagnostic capabilities of these kidneys and increased our ability to transplant kidneys from these donors. The second major initiative was to create an electronic donor record/referral system. This has allowed Southwest Transplant Alliance to move toward real time data collection and to offering organs electronically. By the end of 2006 the electronic system for donor entry was almost complete and we began initial testing of the system for deployment in early 2007. NEWS AND NOTES As of September 1, 2006, Texans can officially register to become organ and tissue donors. While we will encourage registration so that we can share registry details with family members who might not know their loved ones wishes, we will continue to encourage families to discuss donation on a more personal level. To register as a Texas organ and tissue donor, visit www.texasdear.org BRICKS AVAILABLE FOR DONOR WALKWAY Southwest Transplant Alliance and Friends of Fair Park have worked together to create the Texas Organ Donor Memorial Walkway, which is designed to honor organ donors for the precious gifts they’ve shared. If you would like to dedicate a brick in the walkway, please visit www.organ. org for more information. SOUTHWEST TRANSPLANT FOUNDATION NEEDS YOU! Southwest Transplant Foundation has long been a valuable resource for North Texas area patients facing financial crisis while in the transplant process. While STF has helped hundreds of people over the years, it’s our turn to do what we can to make sure that STF can keep doing its wonderful work. The annual golf tournament that raises funds for this Foundation will take place again this fall, and the most important thing we can all do is get teams to play in the tournament. The more teams, the more funds raised. The more funds raised, the more people helped. Do your share. This year, make it your business to find one new team for the annual event. Visit www.swtransplant.org to find out more. I Dear Friends and Colleagues: Sincerely, James A. Cutler, C.P.T.C. President and Chief Executive Officer STA Honors Donor Families During National Organ Donor Month We hope you will join us as we honor the families who make transplants possible. April 14, 2-5 p.m. Midland/Odessa MCM Hotel Elegante I Another key initiative is Texas Donor Education and Awareness Registry that was launched by the Texas Dept. of Health Services. In the coming year, potential Texas donors will simply need to register their wishes to become a donor with the statewide registry. Finally, Southwest Transplant Alliance welcomed its 11th organ transplant center with the launch of the transplant program at Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi. We look forward to helping Driscoll offer the option of transplantation to children in South Texas and to continuing to help all of our partner transplant hospitals offer a second chance to those on their waiting lists. April 21 El Paso, 11 am – 1 pm Vista Hills Country Club Corpus Christi 2 – 4 pm Solomon Ortiz Center April 22, 2-4 pm Tyler The Women’s Center April 28, 1 – 4 pm Dallas Hilton Anatole April 29, 1 – 4 pm Beaumont Lamar University STA Family Member Honored at Sierra Medical Center Southwest Transplant Alliance’s own Marie Phillips was on hand when Sierra Medical Center remembered her late husband, Kenny, by naming an ICU waiting room in his honor. STA thanks Sierra for remembering Kenny, who worked with us often to spread the important message of organ donation to just about anyone in El Paso. DONOR SABBATH COMING IN NOVEMBER Southwest Transplant Alliance encourages all of its volunteers and stakeholders to work with their faith leaders to discuss organ and tissue donation during services sometime in November. We have donor pins to share with you for distribution at your house of worship, as well as materials for you to share with your faith leader. For more information, contact Pam Silvestri. 24-hour referral line – 800-201-0527 STA Headquarters – 800-788-8058 Website – www.organ.org Page I I OUR wondeful VOLUNTEERS JUST KEEP SPREADING THE WORD… Who’s NEW New Employees Lung recipients and married couple Eve and Jon Wright are active volunteers for Southwest Transplant Alliance and have done much to spread the word about organ donation in Texas. They took their good health and their message globally on a recent trip to Turkey, Greece and Egypt. Organ Recovery Coordinators James Hill James is a Certified Respiratory Therapist. Before coming to STA, he was employed at Baylor University Medical Center. Heather Taylor Heather was an RN in the Pediatric Intensive Care unit at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. She received her BSN from the University of Texas at Arlington. Ann Roberson Ann came to use from the Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Medical Center. She received her RN from Tarrant County Junior College. Alison Seyfert Alison worked as an Emergency Department Staff RN at Baylor University Medical Center. She earned her BSN from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Johanna Barnard Family Services Coordinator I BRAVO! BRAVO! RON SPRINGS and EVERSON WALLS for widely sharing their touching friendship and Everson’s plan to share a kidney with Ron… EVERYONE WHO VOLUNTEERED FOR THE ANNUAL SOUTHWEST TRANSPLANT FOUNDATION GOLF TOURNAMENT for hanging tough through rain and a re-scheduling…DR. THOMAS MCGOVERN of EAST TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER’S ICU for literally saving a donor case at ETMC, and for coming back the next day to explain everything in detail to the nursing staff and students…JUDGE KENNETH PETERS, HUNT COUNTY J.P. for his tremendous assistance with a John Doe case, and for going above and beyond the call to make sure this case resulted in organ donation and lives saved…EMILY SUNDEEN of PRESBYTERIAN GREENVILLE’S ICU for her tremendous help with a recent case, first staying over her scheduled shift and then coming in on her day off to continue care of the patient… RN JUSTIN WALKER of EAST TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER’S ICU for showing tremendous skill and compassion with the family of a potential donor… LANIECE CHARLES and TRACY LEONARD of BAYLOR IRVING’S CCU for doing everything they could and not giving up to help a family’s wishes regarding donation to be fulfilled…RN WENDY HICKMAN, of MEDICAL CITY DALLAS HOSPITAL for working with STA on a particularly difficult case, and for being especially supportive of the potential donor’s family…ESMERALDA ROMERO of Bryan for sharing her moving story with the Bryan-College Station Eagle… MARBELLA FRANCIS and SARAH FOWLER for sharing their particularly difficult story with all of the North Texas news media…THE ALONSO FAMILY for their willingness at such a difficult time to share their story with the North Texas news media…EVERYONE AT SIERRA MEDICAL CENTER for a tremendous holiday party that truly celebrated the gift of life… EVERYONE AT ALL OF OUR DONOR HOSPITALS for making organ and tissue donation a priority… ALL OF STA’s VOLUNTEERS for helping us continue to do this important work, so that we can save so many lives… STA’s ORGAN AND TISSUE RECOVERY TEAMS for several years of unprecedented activity, which ultimately means more lives saved through organ and tissue donation… ALL OF OUR DONOR FAMILIES AND RECIPIENTS who do so many wonderful things, many of which we’re not even aware…every day… sharing their stories in hopes that others will consider donation. DR. DEBASIS DASGUPTA and DR. ROBERT F. LEROY 24-hour referral line – 800-201-0527 STA Headquarters – 800-788-8058 Website – www.organ.org Johanna earned her Bachelors of Social Work at the University of North Texas and her Masters of Social Work from Washington. She has worked with the Foster and Adoptive Care Coalition in St. Louis, Missouri and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services in Dallas. Kevin R. Dumith Client Services Coordinator Kevin came to STA from Sanford Brown Institute in Dallas (the Career Education Corporation) where he served as an Allied Health Education Coordinator. Kevin received his Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology Education from Fort Hays State University and his Masters in Health/Kinesiology from Texas A & M at Commerce. Tom Mathai Web Designer Tom received his Bachelor of Arts in Multidisciplinary Studies from the State University of New York at Stony. He has worked with Tribute International Corp.in Woodbury, New York as their Information Technology Manager. Prior to that he worked with Primark, Inc. Financial Information Division in New York City, N.Y. as an Applications Consultant. Phyllis Poole Medical Records & Quality Improvement Coordinator Prior to coming to STA, Phyllis was a claims adjuster with AR-CMI and she also worked with Baylor University Medical Center. v P a g e I What’s Coming Up I GETTING TO KNOW TEXAS TRANSPLANT RECIPIENTS Keith Gaisford recently received his second liver transplant and his parents shared some wonderful photos of Keith without any medical tubes! We wanted to share them with you and thank you for all you do to help us save lives through organ donation. ❤ April 2007 – Organ Donors are Better Livers STA hosts Donor Family Appreciation Ceremonies Across Texas during National Organ Donor Month. ❤ Spring 2007 – Play Ball! STA and the Dallas Mavericks will once again team up to promote organ donation. ❤ Summer 2007 – Do You Have The Guts To Be an Organ Donor? Texas transplant recipients gut it out against a team of media personalities in the annual Texas Rangers Donor Awareness Game. STA co-hosts this annual event that raises awareness of organ donation! ❤ Fall 2007 – FORE! Southwest Transplant Foundation’s Annual Golf Tournament supports transplant candidates and recipients. Be sure to be a part of this important event! ❤ November 2007 – Do You Have The Soul To Be an Organ Donor?. Don’t Forget National Donor Sabbath! Ask your religious leader to participate! ❤ February 2008 –Do You Have The Heart To Be an Organ Donor? STA’s Share Your Valentines Day with a Heart Recipient school promotion is always popular. Heart recipients, get ready to share your stories with students! ❤ S TA continues to inservice all member hospitals regarding Routine Death Notification and the Donor Process. If you would like us to visit specially with anyone at your hospital, please just give us a call. ❤D on’t forget, STA offers FREE, customized public and professional education seminars. Please give us a call at 214522-0255 or 800-788-8058 or visit our web site to schedule a program. ❤D ON’T FORGET TO VISIT US ON THE WEB AT www.organ.org The purpose of New Horizons is to keep you informed about Southwest Transplant Alliance and organ donation and transplantation. Please feel free to call us and comment. We are always happy to answer questions and educate both communities and health care professionals about donation issues. New Horizons is published quarterly by Southwest Transplant Alliance and dedicated to those who give the gift of life. The publication is written and edited by Pam Silvestri. Design and layout are done by Peter Kemp of PKDesign, Carrollton, Texas. I BY THE NUMBERS National and Texas transplant waiting lists as of March 1, 2007 National Texas Kidney 70,113 5,189 Liver 16,957 1,398 Pancreas 1,752 55 Kidney/Pancreas 2,389 126 240 4 2,841 337 134 7 2,850 169 94,607 7,131 ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ Intestine ▶ Heart ▶ April Heart/Lung ▶ Lung ▶ TOTAL* * Remember, these are patient listings and then total patients waiting. Some patients list more than once, and they’re counted under each organ they’re awaiting, but only once in the overall total, so the total patients waiting will be less than the sum of the organs listed. I Mission STATement I Vision Statement Southwest Transplant Alliance exists to save and improve lives by providing organs and tissues for transplantation. We distinguish ourselves by forging meaningful relationships with donor families and the communities we serve in order to realize every possible donation. Every organ and tissue donation opportunity is realized as long as the need exists. Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Dallas, TX Permit No. 1354 3710 Rawlins, Suite 1100 Dallas, Texas 75219