Organ Procurement Organization at the University of Florida

Organ Procurement Organization at the
University of Florida

Information was provided to TransWeb by the Organ Procurement Organization at the University of Florida 2/98.

P.O. Box 100163 Gainesville, Florida 32610-0163

(352) 338-7133 (p)

(352) 338-7135 (f)

gierykm.kidneytx@shands.ufl.edu

UNOS Region 3

Contact person for public relations:	Kathleen M. Giery, APR
Geographical areas covered:	36-county region of northern Florida, from Jacksonville to Pensacola
Population served:	2.9 million
Transplant centers in the service area:	Shands Transplant Center at UF (Gainesville); Mayo Clinic/St. Lukes (Jacksonville); MethodistMedical Center (Jacksonville); Universtiy Medical Center (Jacksonville); Tallahassee Memorial Regional Medical Center (Tallahassee)

The organization and its mission:
The UF OPO is a hospital-based program dedicated to the recovery of organs for transplant and to educating the community on the importance of organ and tissue donation. The OPO has four satellite offices in addition to the main office in Gainesville and has a staff of twenty-two. The OPO works in conjunction with the UF Tissue Bank, Inc., and the North Florida Lions Eye Bank on hospital development and public education efforts.

Unique or creative organ donation promotion strategies:
The UF OPO and the other procurement programs in Florida have just formed the 51st local coalition on donation. One recent and successful campaign was a region-wide promotion with the sheriffs' departments who distributed donor cards in their payrolls and place the coalition's SYLSYD bumper stickers on their marked vehicles. We reached 25 of 36 counties, distributed more than 6,100 donor cards and 3,400 bumper stickers. We have also teamed up with Life-South Blood Center, originators of the Five Points of Life Ride, to promote the ride and other national events such as Saturn's Donor Day.

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Last modified: 10 October, 2001