March – Acting U.S. Surgeon General, Rear Admiral Kenneth Moritsugu, M.D., M.P.H., visited Utah to discuss the pivotal role of area hospitals for saving lives through organ transplants.

Dr. Moritsugu

He honored area hospitals for their high rates of donation.

Dr. Moritsugu went through his own donation decision years ago, when his wife and daughter were killed in separate motor vehicle accidents. Both became organ and tissue donors.

In recent years, he has personally invested his time in promoting new national projects to increase organ donation and transplantation. The results have produced an organ donor consent rate in Utah of 86 percent, one of the highest in the nation.

“We are honored to have him here to speak to our hospital community,” said Liz Roach, director of professional education for Intermountain Donor Services, the organ recovery agency for Utah and southern Idaho.

“Our hospitals have received national awards for their donor programs. Their sensitive work with donor families has resulted in our joint ability to save more lives through organ donation and transplantation,” she said.

Utah and Idaho have been recognized for their best practices with their donor program. There has been better communication between the hospitals and the organ recovery agency at the time of death, which results in better care for the donor families and greater success in saving lives through transplantation.