NewsBriefs

National Organ Waiting List . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118,466

Illinois Organ Waiting List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5,202

Indiana Organ Waiting List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,462

Illinois Organ Waiting List By Organ:

• Kidney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,521

• Liver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .423

• Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

• Kidney/Pancreas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96

• Pancreas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

• Lung . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

• Intestine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

DonationStats

SafetySnippet

Issue 3: 2013

News, Notes and Numbers for Gift of Hope Staff

Saving & Enhancing Lives Through Organ and Tissue Donation

Know Your Incident Reporting Responsibilities Slip. Strain. Slice. Stick. Splash. These are just a few of the actions that can lead to injuries and other adverse incidents as we do our jobs each day in the office or out in the field. Definitely clean that wound, affix a Band-Aid or apply that ice compress when these things happen, but remember one other important step we all must take — report the incident.

Our incident reporting procedure is designed to make sure all of us receive prompt evaluation and treatment for work-related injuries. It also provides a process for consistent documentation of events leading to an employee injury so we can learn from the experiences and keep them from happening again in the future.

*As of 6/14/13

*“Group of 10” to Focus on Enhancing Donor Family ApproachesPerhaps the most direct opportunity to increase the number of organ and tissue donors is to improve our authorization rates. To that end, we are combining our Itasca-based Donation Specialist staff and Family Support staff to create a new department of 10 people who will focus their efforts on enhancing the way we approach and care for potential donor families.

“Many of the organizational changes we have implemented in the last few months and variations in referral patterns from hospitals in our service area have necessitated this latest change in our structure,” explained Alison Smith, Vice President of Operations. “Our goal is to create more flexibility and availability among our staff who routinely interact with potential donor families.”

This new group of Donation Specialists will work under a new call schedule and dispatch process which will ensure that we are caring for donor families by having our skilled and best-qualified people working with them more consistently and on all occasions, when possible.

In a related move, a new position of Authorization Supervisor has been created to oversee this group. “This person will guide staff efforts to develop relationships with direct caregivers in our partner hospitals and identify and address obstacles that may impede the donation process,” Alison said.

The Authorization Supervisor and Donation Specialists will report to Kathy Vasilopulos, Director of Hospital Development.

(Cont. on p. 2)

News, Notes and Numbers for Gift of Hope Staff

Incident Reporting (Cont. from p. 1)

Plans are in the works to establish a “bio-repository” to identify, collect and use human tissue samples from all donors for research purposes. Our bio-repository will provide the transplant research community with well-defined and well-preserved specimens that can increase our ability to improve the donation process and facilitate positive transplant outcomes. It also will make more human bio-specimens available for scientific studies as more and more research stresses the need to expand findings on cell- and animal-based research to studies on humans and human bio-specimens. The facility will be housed in our Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics Laboratory.

“The establishment of this centralized human bio-specimen procurement, processing and banking services facility will allow us to have a unique, more organized and more coherent system to procure organ and tissue samples,” said Andrés Jaramillo, PhD, Director of the Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics Laboratory. “It will be designed to maximize the use of each specimen and facilitate collaboration that will benefit ‘translational research,’ where more investigators and clinicians would participate and use human bio-specimens that are efficiently procured, accessed and utilized.”

Historically, we have collected tissue specimens only on organs that have been identified to have risk factors that may lead to organ discard. With the exception of these samples, which have

been preserved and archived here, there has been no concert-ed effort to collect, identify and preserve a broader range of tissue samples for future use in research. “Our bio-repository will do that while observing the fundamental ethical principle of respect for the tissue donor, including the provision of full information, authorization, professional removal of samples and secure storage of the tissue to maintain confidentiality and privacy,” Andrés said.

Carol Wasik, Infectious Diseases Specialist, will oversee the formation and operations of the bio-repository as part of her duties in the Laboratory. Under the direction of Andrés and Gift of Hope Medical Director Martin Jendrisak, MD, Carol will pro-cess, annotate and store the samples. She also will maintain the facility’s equipment and records and coordinate the retrieval and delivery of the archived specimens. The bio-repository is expect-ed to be in place by the end of 2013.

Carol Wasik, Infectious Diseases Specialist, will oversee the forma-tion and operations of our new bio-repository as part of her duties in the Laboratory.

The procedure governs who must do what when bad things happen to good people like us, so being up to speed on your reponsibilities when an adverse event occurs is a fundamental skill we’re all expected to master as Gift of Hope staff members.

Everything you need to know about incident reporting is spelled out in detail in the procedure posted on Master Control, but here are the key points to remember:

• When immediate medical treatment is needed, don’t delay. Seek it from the medical provider of your choice.

• If you’ve been exposed to bloodborne pathogens, report to Gift of Hope’s contracted medical facility within 72 hours for evaluation and follow-up. In the Itasca area, that’s Elmhurst Memorial Hospital Occupational Health Servic-es, which has offices in Elmhurst, Lombard and Addison. In our satellite region, visit Midwest Occupational Health Associates in Springfield.

• Report any incident or injury to Marianne Steimle, Direc-tor of Human Resources & Training, and your supervisor. All employees are required to do this. If your supervisor is unavailable, contact the administrator on call.

• Complete an Injury and Illness Incident Report (Form HR036Fa) available through Master Control and submit it to Human Resources within one business day. You’re required to do this when a work-related injury or illness occurs or when you’ve been exposed to hazardous conditions, materials or wastes. If you can’t complete the form yourself, your supervisor must do it for you.

• You, your supervisor and Marianne must review the injury/incident and potential actions that could prevent a similar injury/incident from happening again in the future.

• Your supervisor must submit a corrective/preventive ac-tion plan (Form HR036Fb) to Marianne within 15 business days of the incident.

To view the complete procedure and detailed responsibilities, go to Master Control and search for Form HR036Fa.

Bio-Repository on the Horizon for Gift of Hope

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OnwardandUpward

With the elimination of the Manager position in the Donor Resource Center, Rene Kalivoda has moved to Organ Placement and Perfusion under the supervision of Ron Skolek, Supervisor of Technical Services and Kidney Perfusion, to leverage her knowledge and varied experience with our organization. Her new title is Placement/Perfusion Coordinator.

Several staff members have been signed off to work independently in their respective fields. They are:

• Kim Goitia, Tissue Recovery Coordinator• Jane Lee-Zimmer, Donation Coordinator• Blair Matejak, Organ Recovery Coordinator• Anna Michiels, Tissue Recovery Technician

News, Notes and Numbers for Gift of Hope Staff

We recognize and congratulate the following Gift of Hope team members for their academic, professional and personal achievements:

HR Launches New Online Careers PortalOur Human Resources Department has created a new, Web-based Careers Portal to promote career opportunities at Gift of Hope and ease the process of applying for open positions. The portal has been integrated into the Careers section of our website.

Visitors can use the portal to view our current job openings and apply for positions online, or they can simply submit résumés for general consideration.

The portal also has powerful search options that let visitors view all open positions or do custom search-es to find jobs that suit their specific career interests or geographic preferences.

Users also can create online profiles they can update at their convenience. HR encourages you to visit the Careers Portal to see it first hand.

Jane Lee-Zimmer

Our Itasca headquarters has been dedicated to Jerry Anderson, who retired as our President/CEO in December. President/CEO Kevin Cmunt made the announcement April 25 at a special retirement reception held to honor Jerry and recognize him for guiding Gift of Hope during its first 25 years. “It’s only fitting that this building be dedicated to the man who built the foundation upon which Gift of Hope carried out its lifesaving mission for a quarter-century,” Kevin said. “We continue that mission today thanks to his keen vision and expert leadership.”

Family members surround Jerry Anderson at a special reception held to honor him for his many years of service as Gift of Hope’s President/CEO.

Itasca Headquarters Dedicated to Jerry Anderson

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Blair Matejak

Anna MichielsKim Goitia

July Birthdays

Donna Ferrante .........................1Sharon Diehl ..............................4Deborah Davis ..........................5Charles Metz .............................5April Weber ...............................5Daniel Magas ............................7Robert Horsley .........................11Caitlin Coleman ........................12Jennifer Koss .............................13Sarah Sunderman ....................15Irvina Scott-Harvey .................16Elva Hollingshead ....................17David Freedom .........................18Grant Schumacher ...................18Josh Muller ................................18Susan Haibeck ..........................20Jack Lynch ..................................21Christopher Foster ...................22Theresa Lally .............................23Pamela Nelson ..........................23Barbara Dolan ...........................24Renata Krzyston .......................25Andrew Norberciak .................29

August Birthdays

Kathy Cooke ..............................3Carmen Beverly ........................3Carla Luna ..................................3John Krenn .................................5Gustawa Stasiak ......................7Lavell Meeky .............................8Amanda Horngren ...................8Cathy Huffman .........................13Kate Ayers ..................................13Karen Cameron .........................14Paul Theusch .............................14Lola Lewis...................................16Alex Mastalarz..........................18Gregory Slawski .......................21Dawn Kierkowski .....................21Sean Foege ................................24Maelene Tapia ..........................25Kristin Jones ..............................29Ria Eustaquio ............................30James Burian .............................31

Susan Haibeck .......................... 1Crystal Fenn ............................... 1Elizabeth Graham .................... 1Lucas Sassolino ........................ 1Kim Rushing-Henley ............... 2Korie Golden ............................. 2Elva Hollingshead .................... 2Tony Sullivan ............................. 3

Magic Allen ............................... 3Elizabeth Makowski ................ 5Jessica Aquino .......................... 6Cara Moulesong ....................... 6Jerome Schillaci........................ 6Veronica Moreno ..................... 8Susan Cochran .......................... 10Ed Lesh ........................................ 10

Sharon Diehl .............................. 12James Burian ............................. 12Rehana Bhatti ........................... 14Theresa Lally ............................. 18Deborah Davis .......................... 23Daniel Magas ............................ 26Rose Chan .................................. 26Bozena Labuda ......................... 26

MilestonesBirthdays & AnniversariesBirthdays Anniversaries

2013 Incentive MetricsAs of May 31, 2013

Level I Level II Level III Level IV Level V Level VI Weight

Organ Score 347 354 360 367 374 382 80%

Tissue Score 417 425 434 442 450 459 20%

Percentage per Level 2.25% 3.75% 6.00% 9.00% 10.20% 11.25%

Organ Score 347 2.25% 1.80%

Tissue Score 525 11.25% 2.25%

Total Estimated Incentive 4.05%

Year-to-Date Actual

Estimated Incentive

Estimated Incentive Weighted

As of May 31, we have transplanted 347 lifesaving organs provided by 127 generous donors. Hundreds more people in need of tissue transplants will benefit from our efforts in clearing 395 skin donors and 314 bone donors through the end of May. Based on our activity to date, we have met Incentive Plan Levels I and VI for organ and tissue, respectively, resulting in an estimated weighted incentive benefit of 4.05%.

Breakthrough: Staff Exceeds 2013 Targets for First Time

News, Notes and Numbers for Gift of Hope Staff

Marianne Steimle .................... 1Ann Sanchez ............................. 1Carla Luna .................................. 2La Jeana Peters ......................... 2Daniel Kobylarcik ..................... 2Sarah Stein ................................. 2Tamara Dunn ............................. 4Kristin Sieg ................................. 4

Betty Frunk ................................ 5Loretta Zainine ......................... 5Sara Hudak................................. 5Barbara Dolan ........................... 9Allison Wallace ......................... 9Robby Serrano .......................... 9Kathleen Abhalter.................... 10Bozena Ziolko ........................... 10

Gitana Nakas ............................. 11 Shaun Martin ............................ 11 Brett Kesselring ........................ 11 Pamela Endo ............................. 12Karen Cameron ......................... 14April Weber ............................... 15Gustawa Stasiak ...................... 15

August Anniversaries

July Anniversaries

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News, Notes and Numbers for Gift of Hope Staff

Elliott DeBiase joined Gift of Hope on May 20 as a Tissue Recovery Technician reporting to Betsy Leach, Clinical Tissue Recovery Supervisor. He comes to us from Fox River and Country-side Fire/Rescue. Elliott is a graduate of Central DuPage Hospital’s EMT-P program.

WelcomeNewStaffAmanda Horngren joined Gift of Hope on May 20 as an Organ Recovery Coordinator reporting to Michelle Mabry, Supervisor of Organ Recovery Services. She comes to us from Rush University Medical Center. Amanda is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh where she earned a bachelor of science degree in nursing.

Lisa Strylowski joined Gift of Hope on May 20 as an Organ Recovery Coordinator, also reporting to Michelle Mabry. She comes to us from Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago. Lisa is a graduate of Moraine Valley Commu-nity College where she earned an associate in science degree in nursing.

A new public service announcement that aims to boost the number of registered donors in Illinois and Indiana will begin airing on selected television and radio stations throughout the state next month. The new 30-second promotional spot is a marked departure from what we’ve done in the past to catch the public’s eyes and ears and get them to respond to our desired call to action — register as organ and tissue donors.

“Our new PSA is comedic,” explained Dave Bosch, Director of Communications and Legislative Affairs. “While we certainly don’t treat the topic of organ and tissue donation lightly, we believe this departure from the norm will resonate with people, cut through the advertising clutter and get people to act.”

The PSA’s central character is Lola, a “culturally challenged” woman who is out of her element attending the opera. When an on-stage soprano hits a high note and dies, Lola jumps out of her seat and urges the actors to see if she’s a registered donor. “This lady’s lungs are obviously in great shape!” Lola shouts. “They’d be a shame to waste!”

Lola’s actions ultimately win over the crowd, which was initially aghast at her uncouth behavior, and they affirm her pro-dona-tion stance and the need for people to register as donors with a resounding “Encore!”

The PSA will run from July 8 through the end of September on WLS-TV (ABC), WMAQ-TV (NBC) in Chicago, on cable television stations in central Illinois and northwest Illinois, and on radio stations in Chicago, central Illinois and northwest Illinois.

New Promotional PSA Set to Air This Summer

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Donor parents Dan and Lisa Richardson were among the many people on hand to honor the precious gifts of life their loved ones offered as donors at Organ Transplant Support’s 23rd Annual Dedication to Honor Organ and Tissue Donors and Their Families held at Naper Settlement in Naperville. The Richardsons and other attendees took part in ceremonial plantings of flowering trees.

“These flowering trees will stand as steadfast reminders of the lives these people saved through their most generous and precious gifts,” said Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, who attended the event. “These trees are living testimonials to their deeds. We bless and honor those who had the courage and compassion to give.”

OTS provides support, counseling, education and informational programs and materials on transplantation for transplant re-cipients, candidates, their families, healthcare professionals and transplant centers. It also supports and comforts recipients and their families as they experience the trials of an organ or tissue transplant, provides support and education to future transplant recipients on the waiting list and promotes organ and tissue donor awareness in the community.

News, Notes and Numbers for Gift of Hope Staff

The number of registered organ donors jumped dramatically last year when Donate Life America partnered with Facebook to draw attention to the national shortage of transplantable organs, according to a study conducted by Johns Hopkins University researchers and published in the June edition of the American Journal of Transplantation .

Through the social media campaign, Facebook users were urged to share their organ donor status with their friends, and on the first day of the program more than 57,000 users updated their profiles to do just that. Links were also provided so Facebook users could go to the websites of their respective state registries and make their organ donor status official. On that first day, 13,012 new donors

registered online — 21.2 times higher than the average daily registration of 616 new donors.

Registration numbers varied among states — Illinois was among the top gainers — and online registrations gradually dropped during the 12 days after the initiative’s launch, but the number of new daily registrants was still twice the average rate at the end of the study period the Johns Hopkins researchers analyzed.

“The short-term response was incredibly dramatic, unlike anything we had ever seen before in campaigns to increase the organ donation rate,” said Andrew Cameron, MD, study leader, transplant

surgeon and associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “If we can harness that excitement in the long term, then we can really start to move the needle on the big picture.”

Study: Facebook Campaign Caused Dramatic Jump in Registered Donors

Tree-Planting Event Honors Donors

Dan and Lisa Richardson and Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White take part in a ceremonial tree planting to honor the memory of the Richardsons’ seven-year-old son, Dylan, who gave life to three people as an organ donor in 2007. The Richardsons also serve on our Donor Family Advisory Council and are active Advocates for Hope volun-teers. (Photo courtesy of Beckermedia.com.)

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Donate Life America and the Publicity Club of Chicago recently recognized Gift of Hope’s public relations programs for outstanding achievement in helping to raise public awareness of organ and tissue donation and increase the number of organ, eye and tissue donors.

Gift of Hope won a Golden Trumpet and two Silver Trumpet awards May 30 at the Publicity Club of Chicago’s 54th Annual Golden Trumpet Award Ceremony in Chicago. The awards honor individual achievement in planning, creating and executing PR and communications programs. The Golden Trumpet was awarded for the “University of Illinois Quad Day” event conducted last August to break the Guinness World Record for most organ donor registrations in one day. Josh Muller, Public Relations/Marketing Coordinator, produced the event.

We also received a Silver Trumpet award for our “Operation Smile” initiative that raised awareness and generated holiday toys for the many Latino children on the transplant waiting list in Illinois and a similar award for our “Local Vigil for National Hero” initiative that coupled a vigil event and press confer-ence to honor Francisco “Paco” Rodriguez, a donor who was selected to represent Gift of Hope in the 2012 Donate Life Rose Parade. Raiza Mendoza, Hispanic Public Relations & Community Outreach Coordinator, produced both events.

Meanwhile, our Guinness World Record-breaking event also earned us a DLA Pinnacle Award in the Public Relations/Mar-

keting Campaigns category and DLA’s Innovation Award for most creative program. DLA presents the awards to organiza-tions for their successful efforts to increase the number of registered donors. We are one of just seven organizations in the country to have received a Pinnacle Award, and we are the sole recipient of the Innovation Award. Josh accepted both awards on our behalf at DLA’s annual meeting last week in Indianapolis .

“Educating the public about organ and tissue donation is our primary mission,” said Dave Bosch, Director of Communica-tions and Legislative Affairs. “Award programs like the PCC Golden Trumpets and DLA’s Pinnacle and Innovation awards not only encourage and motivate our team, but they remind us our work is valued by our peers in communications and public relations.”

The Publicity Club of Chicago and Donate Life America recognized us for our public relations programs aimed at raising awareness of organ and tissue donation and boosting donor registrations. We received the Golden Trumpet Award from PCC and the Innovation and Pinnacle awards from DLA.

Two University of Illinois students display the T-shirts they received for choosing to register as donors at our award-winning Quad Day event last August.

Gift of Hope Recognized for PR Programs

Visit GiftofHope.org and Connections to learn more about what’s happening at Gift of Hope.

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News, Notes and Numbers for Gift of Hope Staff