Hospitals Campaign for Organ Donations

<br>DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) _ Twenty-five Michigan hospitals have announced plans to encourage more organ donations. <br><br>The hospitals are adopting guidelines for approaching grieving families, removing

Friday, April 23rd 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) _ Twenty-five Michigan hospitals have announced plans to encourage more organ donations.

The hospitals are adopting guidelines for approaching grieving families, removing organs and transporting them to transplant centers. The program was announced Thursday in Dearborn by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson.

``We view it as a continuation of patient care,'' Dr. Jeffrey Punch, the University of Michigan's head of transplants, told The Detroit News.

About 2,800 Michigan residents are waiting for organ transplants, and each year about 200 die waiting, according to Gift of Life Michigan, which coordinates donations.

Donation rates more than doubled when the University of Michigan and Henry Ford health systems tested the new program last year. At Henry Ford, 67 percent of eligible patients donated organs compared with 20 percent the year before, said Henry Ford transplant coordinator Bill Madek.

The University of Michigan reported that 91 percent of eligible patients donated organs under the new program. Nationwide, about 43 percent donate.

``This initiative is not going to cost anything but the time it take s to implement the best practices,'' said Richard Pietroski, clinical director of Gift of Life Michigan.

The Bush administration says that it expects 800 hospitals nationwide to adopt the new procedures.