Intermountain Donor Services

Information provided to TransWeb by Lynette Phillips of IORS, 10/98; updated by Don Hooper 7/01.

230 South 500 East, Suite. 290 Salt Lake City, Utah  84102

(801) 521-1755 (phone) toll free (800) 833-6667 or (83-DONOR)

(801) 364-8815 (fax)

http://www.idslife.org ben@idslife.org

UNOS Region 5

Contact person for public education:	Alex McDonald, Don Hooper (don@idslife.org)
Geographical areas covered:	Utah; southeastern Idaho; western Wyoming, Elco Nevada
Population served:	2.6 million
Transplant centers in the service area:	University of Utah Medical Center, Primary Children's Medical Center, LDS Hospital, Veterans Administration Medical Center

The organization and its mission:
Intermountain Donor Services (IDS) is an federally designated nonprofit community service organization dedicated to the recovery and transplantation of organs and tissues.  IDS performs its procurement role, combined with community awareness and education, with the following goals in mind:

• To provide high quality organ and tissue procurement services to the medical and public communities we serve.
• To educate medical professionals and the public sector on the benefits of organ and tissue donation in order to provide, in a sensitive manner, the option of donation to all individuals.
• To provide and organizational environment that attracts, retains, and motivates qualified employees who are dedicated to our mission, vision, and values.

Unique or creative organ and tissue donation promotion strategies:
Professional Education:  Serving 74 hospitals, ranging from remote hospitals to major metropolitan transplant centers, creates a unique challenge for professional education.  Professional education classes/seminars are offered on approach, donation regulations, consent, and the donation/transplantation process.  Classes are tailored to each hospital's unique needs.  Classes often feature a donor family or transplant recipient.  Classes are interactive and offer audio/visual information, a chance for roll playing exercises, and time for questions and answers.
Public Education:  School-based programs reach middle school children in their health and science classes with the idea of organ and tissue donation; donation is again approached in high school driver's education classes (right before students are faced with the decision to indicate "donor" on their licenses). Approximately 70,000 students a year see this presentation.   Additional materials are available for special research projects which have ranged from Eagle Scout projects to graduate school research.  Health fairs are an on-going commitment which IDS provides to the communities.  Many donor and recipient families have taken the opportunity to speak in community/church events about donation.
Community Events:  IDS was proud to host the U.S. Transplant Games in 1996.Winter of 1999 found Salt Lake City hosting the Winter World Transplant Games.   Every August IDS sponsors the 5k Dash for Donation in honor of Mary Anne Shea. Mary Anne was a kidney recipient who dedicated her life to promoting organ donation and raising public awareness.

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Last modified: 19 July, 2001