U-M Transplant Center receives second HHS Medal of Honor
for increasing organ donation

The U-M Health System Transplant Center, in collaboration with Gift of Life Michigan, received the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) distinguished Medal of Honor for achieving an organ donation rate of more than 75 percent for an unprecedented second year in a row.

The award makes the center one of the leaders for organ donation in Michigan and one of the best in the country. The joint effort resulted in 40 organs for transplantation at U-M hospitals in 2005: 22 kidneys, 10 livers, three hearts, four lungs and one pancreas.

The U-M Transplant Center was one of 16 hospitals in Michigan and one of 300 nationwide to receive the Medal of Honor for achieving a lifesaving organ donation rate of 75 percent or greater for a sustained 12-month period. The department also recognized U-M in 2004 and 2005 for its significant efforts to increase the organ donation rate.

Much of the center's success is credited to the work of Dr. Jeffrey Punch, fellow, American College of Surgeons and director of the UMHS Transplantation Division; Mark Gravel, director of donation initiatives; and Richard Chenault, transplant/donation specialist. All three received individual HHS Medals of Honor for significant efforts to increase organ donation at U-M.

Those efforts include the development of the organ initiatives program at UMHS, which strives to shrink the gap between patients on organ wait lists and organs available for transplantation. The program works to increase Health System staff education and applies a more organized approach to talking with patients' families about the potential for organ donation.

The Medal of Honor is part of the HHS Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative. The collaborative, which the Transplant Center and Gift of Life Michigan joined in 2003, is designed to combat the growing disparity between the supply and demand of organs for transplantation in the United States by pairing the hospitals with the highest number of eligible/potential donors with their local organ procurement organization. Its goal is to raise the donation rate at these institutions to 75 percent. Thanks to these efforts, the current national average organ donation rate is 60 percent.

To learn more about the HHS Organ Donation Breakthrough, visit www.organdonor.gov.

For more information about organ donation and how to become a donor, go to Gift of Life Michigan at www.giftoflifemichigan.org, TransWeb: All About Transplantation and Donation at www.transweb.org or United Network for Organ Sharing at www.unos.org.

Facts about organ and tissue donation

• 614 Michigan patients received a lifesaving organ transplant from a deceased donor in 2005

• 278 Michigan patients received a lifesaving organ transplant from a living donor in 2005

• 65 Michigan children received an organ transplant in 2005

• More than 7,500 Michigan patients have received a lifesaving organ transplant
in the last 10 years

• One organ and tissue donor can save and enhance the lives of over 50 people

• The gift of life is ageless. Everyone can sign up to donate life

• Cornea transplants have been successful for more than 100 years

• Organ transplants have been saving lives for more than 50 years

• On average, 77 U.S. patients receive an organ transplant every day

• On average, 17 Michigan residents receive an organ transplant each week
(five of those are from living donors)

• Nearly 1,000 cornea transplants are performed in Michigan each year

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