Hospital receives grant to increase organ donation

Karen Ingwell

The UW Hospital and Clinics Organ Procurement Organization has received a $300,000 grant to conduct research regarding organ donation.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration recently awarded the grant. The hospital program is one of 12 consortia nationwide receiving grants to expand research to increase the number of organ and tissue donors.

Despite modern advances in medicine, more than 78,000 people are on the waiting list for transplants and the list continues to grow daily. Many die every day because not enough organs are available.

“We hope to shorten the national organ transplant list by increasing the number of families that are offered the opportunity to donate,” says Anthony D’Alessandro, executive director of the Organ Procurement Organization.

The program is collaborating on the project with Knupp & Watson, a social marketing firm with offices in Madison and Washington, D.C. The research will focus on developing a protocol for increasing organ donation, addressing expanded training for hospital staff involved in approaching families with the option of organ donation and developing strategies to increase the number of organ donors.

The program will invite hospital personnel, donor families and families who decide not to donate to participate in surveys, interviews and focus groups.

The federal agency is responsible for the oversight of the nation’s Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network and Scientific Registry of Transplant recipients. HRSA’s Division of Transplantation in the Office of Special programs administers the grant program.

The hospital-based procurement program is recognized as one of the most effective organ procurement programs in the nation. The service is affiliated with the United Network for Organ Sharing and provides organ procurement services to Wisconsin and areas of Michigan and Illinois.