February 6, 2009 

For immediate release 

Children’s Mercy honored for increasing pediatric organ and tissue donation

For three years in a row, Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics has been awarded the distinguished service award for excellence in organ donation and transplantation from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Children’s Mercy is recognized for having an organ donor consent rate of greater than 75 percent and for having procured more than 3.75 organs per donor.  This award, presented for the first time, has only been received by 83 hospitals nationwide. 

“We have taken the lead in the area of pediatric donation‚” says Randall L. O’Donnell‚ PhD‚ President and CEO of Children’s Mercy. “The collaborative work of everyone involved has led to this recognition on the regional and national level.”

In 2006, Children's Mercy received the 2006 Donate Life Award from the Missouri Hospital Association.  The award recognized Children’s Mercy’s success in improving lives and health outcomes through pediatric donation and transplantation, and leadership in the Midwest Transplant Network region.

Since 2004, the organ and tissue referral and conversion rates for Children’s Mercy have far exceeded the national average, with a nearly perfect referral rate. In 2005, the hospital received the 75 percent Award of Excellence from the Department of Health and Human Services, and was awarded the Medal of Honor for organ donation in by the HHS Health Resources and Services Administration in 2006. The hospital’s chaplains, who serve as the designated requestors for tissue donation, had the highest tissue conversion rate in the MTN service area in 2005. 

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