License offices are an important part of the organ and tissue donation process with more than 98 percent of those on the organ and tissue donor registry joining at their local DMV. Because registry enrollment is so important in the donation process, Mid-America Transplant is committed to supporting DMVs throughout our region.

Working with license office managers across the service area this summer, Mid-America Transplant has provided 46 free plexiglass partitions to protect essential workers in the DMV community. Mid-America Transplant plans to install 75 more partitions in the near future. License offices also have the option to apply partition decals encouraging community members to register to be a donor. 

In addition, as DMVs have moved lines outside for social distancing purposes, Mid-America Transplant volunteers have showed up to provide cold water and donation information on hot summer days. The water provides respite as the customer waits, and volunteers take a moment to share their story and encourage guests to considering joining the registry.

Through the generosity of donors and in partnership with more than 120 hospitals in the region, Mid-America Transplant is projecting more lives will be saved in 2020 than ever before.

At the mid-year mark, 365 organs have been transplanted from 126 local donors this year in Mid-America Transplant’s service area. The number of organs transplanted represents a 6.7% increase over the same time period in 2019. Learn more about 2019: A Remarkable Year for Saving Lives.

In addition, at the time of this article's publication, 1,118 tissue donors have given lifesaving gifts of cornea, heart valves, skin and bone in 2020. This represents a 10.5% increase compared to the first half of 2019.

INCREASE IN DCD DONATION

The increase is largely attributed to strong hospital partnerships throughout the region, and a 52% increase in donation after circulatory death (DCD) donors. This year, 120 organs have been transplanted from 57 DCD donors through June 30, 2020.  In 2019, Mid-America Transplant recovered 65 organs from 38 donors in the same time period. 

244 people have been taken off dialysis thanks to a lifesaving kidney transplant from donors in Mid-America Transplant's service area in 2020.

DCD is an option to give the gift of life when a patient has suffered an irreversible, non-survivable injury and the family decides to withdraw clinical support. The recovery of organs and tissues occur after the heart has stopped beating and the person’s death has been declared. Generally, donation has been an option when a patient suffers an irreversible brain injury leading to brain death, DCD provides another option.

Recent medical advancements have created new lifesaving opportunities in transplantation from DCD donors. Until recently, only kidneys, livers and lungs have been donated after circulatory death. In June, Mid-America Transplant assisted in the recovery of two hearts from DCD donors for the first time in organizational history.

RECORD FIRST QUARTER FOR TISSUE DONATION

Tissue donation is also on pace to set new donation milestones. The first quarter was the best in organizational history, capped by the month of March in which a record number of heart valves, bone, and skin were donated.

In April and May, when many elective surgeries were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for tissue donation slowed considerably. In June, tissue donor numbers increased to near pre-pandemic levels. Learn how we are continuing our mission to save lives through organ and tissue donation during the coronavirus pandemic. 

More families have said yes to tissue donation this year, leading to the increase in tissue donation. At mid-year, 64% of families have authorized donation for their loved one, compared to 57% during the same time period last year. 

Mid-America Transplant is inspired by the opportunity to continue saving lives in 2020 as more than 1,000 people wait locally for a lifesaving transplant. Learn more about What We Do and register your decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor.

Every day, we at Mid-America Transplant are humbled by the countless stories of generous donor families, the perseverance of transplant patients, and the incredibly talented medical professionals with whom we work every day to save lives. 

2019 was a truly remarkable year for organ and tissue transplant in our region. Through our shared commitment to donation, Mid-America Transplant was able to provide 761 organs for lifesaving transplants and helped thousands of people through tissue donations. With the support of our transplant centers, local hospitals, medical examiners and coroners, 2019 set new donation milestones for Mid-America Transplant, as we continue to improve our processes to give more patients a better quality of life.

Without the support of our medical partners, we truly could not do the work we do. We are inspired by their dedication to donation and to saving lives. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mid-America Transplant’s in-person hospital recognition events were cancelled. However, we wanted to take a moment to recognize our partners for their outstanding work in organ and tissue donation in 2019:

• Alton Memorial Hospital 
• Barnes-Jewish Hospital
• Christian Hospital 
• Cox Medical Center Branson
• Cox Medical Center South 
• Madison County Coroner’s Office
• Mercy Hospital Springfield
• Mercy Hospital St. Louis
• Mercy Hospital Washington
• Missouri Baptist Medical Center
• Office of the St. Louis County Medical Examiner
• Office of the Regional Medical Examiner
• OSF Saint Anthony’s Health Center    
• Phelps Health
• Saint Francis Medical
• SIH Herrin Hospital
• SSM Health DePaul Hospital-St. Louis
• SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital
• SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital-Lake St. Louis

In honor of their lifesaving work, each organization listed above will be presented with the Gift of Life donor medal. Mid-America Transplant offers these medals to the families of donors in honor of their own generosity, and in remembrance of their loved one. The bronze medal depicts a special moment from our memorial ceremonies, where families and friends gather to raise a candle in honor of organ and tissue donors. 
 

We are sharing this medal with the hospitals on behalf of donor families, whose generosity, along with the passion and dedication of the hospital staffs, make these lifesaving gifts possible.  

Thank you on behalf of the organ and tissue donor families. Thank you on behalf of the recipients, who are now able to live happy, healthy lives. Thank you on behalf of the patients on the waiting list.

Mercy Hospital Jefferson raised a Donate Life flag Tuesday morning to honor heroic organ and tissue donors after a ceremony to bless the new flagpole. The flagpole was donated by Mid-America Transplant.

“Today, we’re blessed to raise another meaningful flag at Mercy Jefferson, the Donate Life flag,” Mercy Hospital Jefferson President Eric Ammons told a crowd at the flagpole. “This flag represents not only those from Mid-America Transplant who provide such a valuable service to us, but also those heroes and their families who made a very difficult but beautiful choice to Donate Life and joy, often in the most adverse circumstances.”

Two organ donors from Mercy Hospital Jefferson have saved the lives of two people so far in 2020.

“We hope this will be a reminder each time a family sees this flag that their loved one is a hero,” said Kevin Lee, Chief Organ Operations Officer at Mid-America Transplant.

Tuesday’s ceremony included the song “Unintentional Hero,” played by Teresa Stamey who is a Music Therapist at Mercy Home Health & Hospice.

National Minority Donor Awareness Month is a collaborative effort by the National Organ, Eye and Tissue Donation Multicultural Action Group to save and improve the quality of life of diverse communities by creating a positive culture for organ, eye, and tissue donation. National Minority Donor Awareness Month, which will be celebrated for the first time as a month-long observance this August, stems from National Minority Donor Awareness Week, founded in 1996 by the National Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP), to bring heightened awareness to donation and transplantation in minority communities.

Our voices are united to address the number one problem in transplantation: the gap between the demand for organ transplants and supply of donated organs. The waiting list currently stands at more than 100,000 with more than 60% representing racial and ethnic minorities. Even though a record number of nearly 40,000 people, including more than 18,000 racial and ethnic minorities, received the gift of life in 2019, the gap remains staggeringly high. On average, 20 people die every day waiting for a transplant.1 

In the St. Louis region, more than 1,000 people are waiting for a lifesaving transplant, with more than 38% representing racial and ethnic minorities. Locally, 761 lifesaving organs were made available for transplant in 2019 from 271 heroic organ donors.

The need for donation and transplant is more pronounced in multicultural communities where disproportionately higher rates of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease contribute to organ failure, especially kidney failure. African Americans are three times more likely than White Americans to have kidney failure. Hispanics are 1.5 times more likely than non-Hispanics to have kidney failure.2

On average, African American/Black transplant candidates wait longer than White transplant candidates for kidney, heart and lung transplants.3 These healthcare disparities are part of the need for National Minority Donor Awareness Month education and outreach to help heal and save lives in our communities. 

During National Minority Donor Awareness Month, organ and tissue donation organizations like Mid-America Transplant will highlight the need for more organ, eye and tissue donors within multicultural communities, provide donation education, encourage donor registration, and promote healthy living and disease prevention to decrease the need for transplantation. National Minority Donor Awareness Month is another important effort to promote the positive messages that are necessary for minority communities to make the decision for organ, eye and tissue donation.

National Multicultural Action Group partners consist of the Association for Multicultural Affairs in Transplantation (AMAT), Association of Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO), Donate Life America (DLA), National Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP) and National Kidney Foundation (NKF). A toolkit to promote National Minority Donor Awareness Month is available for download at DonateLife.net.

About Mid-America Transplant
For 45 years, Mid-America Transplant has facilitated and coordinated organ and tissue donation, and now serves 84 counties covering eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and northeast Arkansas that together are home to 4.7 million people. It saves lives by providing expert and compassionate care for organ donors, donor families, and recipients, and transforms the clinical processes required to recover and transplant organs and tissues. Mid-America Transplant is federally designated as one of 58 such organizations in the U.S. and is the first organ and tissue procurement organization to be recognized as a recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence. For more information, visit www.midamericatransplant.org. 

(Notes: 1 Data from Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) data as of July 2020, https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/; 2 National Kidney Foundation, as July 21, 2020, kidney.org ; 3 SRTR Risk Adjustment Model Documentation: Waiting List Models, as of July 21, 2020, https://www.srtr.org/reports-tools/waiting-list/)

We are excited to announce the Celebrate Life 5K Run/Walk on October 11th will be VIRTUAL! While we sadly can’t be together in-person, we are creating new ways to honor your loved one and share the importance of donation and transplantation through this virtual event.

What does this mean? It means we will come together online, from near and far, to honor all organ and tissue donors, celebrate new life with recipients, support those waiting for a lifesaving transplant, and inspire others to say “Yes” to donation.

With your participation in the virtual Celebrate Life 5K Run/Walk - by running or walking in your neighborhood or local park and with the reach of social media - we can share the powerful, lifesaving message with even more people.

Together, we will honor donors and save lives.

Mandy Young was conducting a telemental health session with a longtime client grieving the death of a spouse. Mandy had many in-person sessions with the client at the NEA Baptist Center for Good Grief before the COVID-19 pandemic and heard many stories of the client’s spouse.

During this teletherapy grief session, the client was able to show the flowers he and his spouse planted together. He showed quilts she had made, and pictures from trips. For Mandy, it was a glimpse into the new possibilities telemental health services could provide her clients.

During her team’s winter planning sessions, they brainstormed ideas on reaching those who couldn’t attend in-person sessions because of injury, disability, or because the client lived too far away. Supported by a grant from the Mid-America Transplant Foundation, the NEA Baptist Center for Good Grief planned on introducing telemental health services in January of 2021. They expected to take 2020 to plan and develop a program, train staff, and build the infrastructure needs to accommodate remote therapy sessions.

Then, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived. “Things started shutting down,” Mandy said. “We weren’t allowed to have people in our building, so we decided to just jump in and start immediately. We wanted to still see our clients.”

The Mid-America Transplant Foundation proudly awarded a grant for this program as part of its ongoing commitment to support donor families through the availability of grief counseling services throughout the region.

Startling Numbers

The NEA Baptist Center for Good Grief has served more than 415 people since 2017. In 2019 alone, the Center provided more than 1,200 individual grief sessions to 237 individuals. Many of their clients are children.

According to the Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model, 1 in 11 Arkansas children will experience the death of a parent or sibling before the age of 18. That ranks 11th in the United States. In Missouri, 1 in 12 children will experience the death of a parent or sibling by age 18, and according to Mandy, the Missouri counties bordering Arkansas are rated higher.  “These are pretty startling numbers,” Mandy said.

Adapting telemental health sessions for children has required additional innovation. “A lot of children therapy is play based,” Mandy said. “We get very creative with that now.” The team continues to use play-based therapy, while working with families to ensure they have necessary materials, such as paper, crayons or markers, and glue.

“For our younger generation, telemental health session may be more predictive,” Mandy said. “There’s some sort of security behind a screen. They almost tell us more.”

‘Things are changing’

Telemental health sessions have created new challenges too. Many of a counselors’ tools are in the office and not compatible with video conferencing. In addition, body language and non-verbal ques are important in evaluating a situation.  “If there’s nervousness, we can’t see a foot or leg shaking,” Mandy said. “Some of our kids and teens, they don’t even like their face to be in the camera.”

It also limits personal interactions. “Many of our clients cry and share with us,” Mandy said. “They hug us. They’re used to physical touch of even a handshake or pat on the back. But in our world, those things are changing.”

Reaching More People

Overall, Mandy is excited about the development of the telemental health program, and the prospect of reaching more people with these important grief services.  “I think of all those people who are grieving a loved one or a friend,” she said. “I can’t wait to see where this goes.”

Click here to learn more about the NEA Baptist Center for Good Grief.

The Mid-America Transplant Foundation Board of Directors approved more than $470,000 to support grief centers serving Mid-America Transplant’s service area in alignment with its mission to save and heal lives in the community it serves.  The awards represent a 57 percent increase in funding allocated to these important resources aimed at assisting the community heal.

“Several years ago, the Foundation identified the need to help donor families heal through professional counseling services delivered by grief centers throughout our service area,” said Kevin Lee, Executive Director of the Foundation. “We are acutely aware  that the loss of a loved one can make it difficult to get through any given day or moment, and this commitment by the Board of Directors represents our ongoing support of donor families throughout our region.”

Mid-America Transplant, which served more than 2,500 donor families in 2019, is committed to supporting donor families through its Aftercare program and the financial support of grief counseling programs, which provide a safe place to navigate the grief journey.

Grief Center Grant Recipients

• Annie’s Hope in St Louis served more than 3,400 clients in 2019 – more than 20 percent of its clients were related to an organ, eye or tissue donor – with its comprehensive support services for children, teens, and their families who are grieving a death. Serving the St. Louis region since 1998, Annie’s Hope takes a comprehensive approach of best practices in facilitated peer support to initiate the healing process and alter the trajectory of grief, leading to healthier outcomes. The grant will continue to support programs serving families of donors, including Camp Courage, retreats, family support groups, and the Horizons program.
• Heartlinks Grief Center in Belleville, IL is a program of Family Hospice, and it assists grieving children, individuals, families, and groups through counseling, peer support groups, and other community programs. In 2019, Heartlinks served more than 2,500 people, including more than 100 donor family members. The grant will allow Heartlinks to continue growing its capacity to serve the community, while adding addiction/substance abuse loss programs and rural grief programs.
• Infant Loss Resources serves St. Louis and Springfield, MO by connecting families directly affected by infant loss to programs, services and information related to grief support. Serving more than 250 people in 2019, Infant Loss Resources will continue to operate the “You’re Not Alone” program with the grant. The program aims to improve the lives of bereaved parents and extended family members by offering free grief support.
• Lost & Found Grief Center (LFGC) is the only professional counseling service established solely to serve grieving families and individuals within two-and-a-half hours of Springfield, MO. Providing grief support for 20 years, LFGC served more than 2,400 individuals in 2019. The grant will allow LFGC to increase the capacity of its grief services, including therapeutic grief support groups for children, parents, and adults.
• The NEA Baptist Center for Good Grief serves Jonesboro, AR and the surrounding communities as a comprehensive bereavement center providing free grief support to children, teens and adults. The Good Grief Center served nearly 250 individuals in 2019 and identified a growing need for support services in rural areas of Arkansas and Missouri. The grant will support the development of a new teletherapy grief service program, allowing therapists to interact face-to-face with patients by way of video conferencing with individuals in rural, underserved communities who are unable to travel to Jonesboro. 
• The Counseling and Social Advocacy Center (CSAC) at the University of Missouri-St. Louis assists individuals, couples, and families with affordable counseling services provided by professional counselors and graduate counseling students. CSAC anticipates serving more than 800 people in the St. Louis community – specifically north St. Louis County, which has been historically underserved as it relates to mental health services – during the 2019-2020 fiscal year with comprehensive grief services.

The Mid-America Transplant Foundation awards grants to partner organizations aligned to the Foundation’s mission. Organizations are invited to submit an application. To date, the Foundation has awarded more than $2.5 million in grants to partner organizations.

Learn More About Foundation Grants

The Mid-America Transplant Foundation Board of Directors pledged more than $210,000 in grant funding requests to partner organizations committed to decreasing the need for transplants through preventative health measures and supporting recipients by ensuring they have access to care and resources they need. The programs receiving funding align with the Foundation’s mission, including its goal to reduce the need for organ and tissue transplants and to improve the lives of recipients.

2020 Partner Grant Recipients

• Casa de Salud is a primary care clinic in St. Louis providing preventative care to low-income, uninsured immigrants and refugees. This population is at high risk of chronic health conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes because of socio-economic conditions and cultural and linguistic barriers to care. The clinic served nearly 2,300 people in 2019. The grant will allow Casa de Salud to continue providing these important services while also educating clients on diet and lifestyle choices to manage diabetes and hypertension, which are conditions that can lead to the need for organ transplants.
• SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital is a Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center providing care to communities throughout Illinois, Missouri, and beyond. The Cardinal Glennon transplant program cares for children needing lifesaving kidney, liver or heart transplants. Research has indicated most transplant patients and their parents will experience psychological stress that affects their ability to conduct their daily lives as a result of the child’s admission to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). In addition, virtually all PICU physicians and nurses will experience some level of complex psychological problem of burnout or compassion fatigue. The grant will allow Cardinal Glennon to develop mental health services for recipients, their family, and hospital staff.  
• Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors provides support for burn survivors and families through in-person and online programming, including peer-to-peer support and learning tools. With the grant, the Phoenix Society hopes to increase awareness of the services provided and the importance of tissue donation.

“As an organization, we have a longstanding commitment to decreasing the need for transplants through preventative health measures with partners in our community, and we’re excited to continue this partnership with Casa de Salud,” said Kevin Lee, Executive Director of the Foundation. “In this cycle, we’re also proud to partner with Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital and the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors to provide much needed resources to transplant recipients and transplant medical professionals, both of whom often experience complex stress during the transplant journey. These grants – coupled with the Foundation’s support of grief programs in our region – truly show the Board of Director’s commitment to the entire donation and transplantation community.”

The Mid-America Transplant Foundation awards grants to partner organizations aligned to the Foundation’s mission. Organizations are invited to submit an application. To date, the Foundation has awarded more than $2.5 million in grants to partner organizations.

Learn More About Foundation Grants

Every April, Mid-America Transplant joins Donate Life America (DLA) in celebration of National Donate Life Month (NDLM), focusing national attention on organ, eye and tissue donation and transplantation. During NDLM, we encourage everyone to share the importance of registering their decision to be a donor, honor deceased and living donors, and celebrate the lifesaving and healing gift of transplantation.

During NDLM 2020, Donate Life America will also be celebrating 20 years of the Donate Life℠ symbol. Since 2000, Donate Life has been recognized as the national symbol for the cause of organ, eye and tissue donation. Blue, green and the swirl represent the sky, earth and circle of life. The Donate Life symbol is a call to action, asking the public to Donate Life — to register their decision to save and heal lives and consider living donation.

The Donate Life brand unites the hundreds of donation and transplantation organizations and the hundreds of thousands of patients, recipients, living donors, donor families, supporters and patients waiting.

“This April, we are celebrating the generosity of donation that has grown from the public over the past 20 years,” says David Fleming, President & CEO of Donate Life America. “National Donate Life Month is a time to educate about the donation cause, honor donors and donor families, and celebrate life made possible by the decision of individuals and the dedication of donation and transplant professionals.”

Key celebrations and features of National Donate Life Month 2020 include:

National Donate Life Blue & Green Day, April 17, 2020

National Pediatric Transplant Week, April 19-25, 2020

The last full week of National Donate Life Month is dedicated to kids. National Pediatric Transplant Week provides a platform to talk about the potential of ending the pediatric waiting list, to share transplant program innovation and patient stories, and to honor donor families whose children have saved and healed lives through donation. Information and public resources are available at DonateLife.net/pediatric-transplant-week.

Donate Life America (DLA) partners with the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the American Society of Transplantation (AST), and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) to celebrate and promote National Pediatric Transplant Week.

National Donate Life Month Artwork

Each year, Donate Life America (DLA) creates unique artwork for National Donate Life Month (NDLM). The NDLM 2020 art was inspired by the springtime scene of a garden. A garden and the insects within it serve as symbols of hope, courage and transformed life — themes repeatedly found within the donation and transplantation journey.

Donate Life America recognizes and thanks the 60 percent of U.S. adults who have registered their decision to save lives as organ, eye and tissue donors at the time of their death — and the record number of nearly 7,400 living donors whose generosity saved lives in 2019. Nearly 112,000 people across the country – and about 1,100 in the St. Louis region – are currently waiting for a lifesaving transplant. On average, 22 people die each day because the organ they need is not donated in time — almost one person dying every hour. Thousands more people are waiting for lifesaving and healing eye and tissue transplants. You can help by registering your decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor, and learning more about the option of living donation.

Register your decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor at SayYesGiveLife.org.

*Data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) as of March 11, 2020

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About Donate Life America

Donate Life America (DLA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization leading its national partners and Donate Life State Teams to increase the number of donated organs, eyes and tissue available to save and heal lives. DLA manages and promotes Donate Life℠, the national brand for the cause of donation; motivates the public to register as organ, eye and tissue donors; provides education about living donation; manages the National Donate Life Registry at RegisterMe.org; and develops and executes effective multi-media campaigns to promote donation.

Mid-America Transplant media contact:

Justin Phelps
O: 314-735-8467
C: 309-472-1878
jphelps@midamericatransplant.org