Community Partners – Midwest Transplant Network

Getting Their Flowers: MTN Staff Earn a DAISY Team Award

May 13, 2024/in

The excitement in “We won a DAISY with WMC!!!!” says a lot.

The story behind the sentiment says even more.

In December 2023, a car accident sent Dwayne ‘D Dub’ Moenning to the emergency department at Wesley Healthcare in Wichita, Kansas. He was cared for by a Surgical Intensive Care Unit for about a week, but despite efforts to save him, he passed away. Moenning’s family chose to donate their son’s organs. And they wanted his classmates to attend his honor walk. The school is more than an hour’s drive to the hospital.

MTN’s Impact
Midwest Transplant Network staff Midge Dempsey, Family Services Coordinator II, and Nikki Dixon, Hospital Services Coordinator II, work in the Wichita satellite office. They served on the team that supported the Moenning family, and both made an impact.

Dempsey describes her job as supporting families “during one of the worst days of their lives by giving them hope and to allow them to experience joy amidst their pain.”

Dempsey explained that when the time came to approach the Moenning family about donation, they struggled with the decision, but after conversation and explaining the organ donation process, they “eventually verbalized how important it was for D Dub to save lives.” Soon, Dempsey was helping the family plan an honor walk and coordinating efforts to bring classmates and community members from their small town to the hospital.

“They were finding comfort in donation and how D Dub would be honored.”

Earning The DAISY Team Award
The DAISY Team Award is designed to honor collaboration by two or more people, led by a nurse, who identify and meet patient and patient family needs by going above and beyond the traditional role of nursing.

Wesley Healthcare presented The DAISY Team Award to a multi-disciplinary SICU team that included partners and others who had an instrumental role in the Moenning’s story. The ceremony was held May 8, in the heart of National Nurses Week.

“Earning a DAISY Team Award brings validation to my life and reminds me that I am following the path that has been paved for me. This award brings me joy because I know that I was able to provide someone with something they needed at a given time,” said Dempsey.

As a Hospital Services Coordinator, Dixon is responsible for “education, onboarding, policy development and problem-solving. Most importantly, I teach hospital staff when to refer patients to MTN and help facilitate the relationship between the hospital and Midwest Transplant Network.”

Dixon’s thoughts about the honor are similar. “Earning The DAISY Team Award as part of a hospital/MTN team is a blessing. We work very closely with the hospital team and winning an award together is a testament to that partnership.”

There’s another layer to the award for Dixon. “I spent my bedside nursing career in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Wesley, so this hospital is dear to my heart. I am very proud to serve Wesley as their MTN Hospital Services Coordinator. Organ donation saved my late father’s life twice, so I am honored to be part of this mission.”

About The DAISY Award
The DAISY Award was established by the family of J. Patrick Barnes in honor of the care he received after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease at the age of 33, in 1999. While he was hospitalized, his family “experienced the best of nursing.”

After Barnes died, his wife created the acronym DAISY – Diseases Attacking the Immune System – and the family created a not-for-profit organization, and The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses began at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance at the University of Washington Medical Center. The DAISY Award is described as “the first program of its kind to give patients, families, and co-workers a way to express their gratitude to nurses for what they became nurses to do – provide compassionate care to patients and their families.”

The DAISY Award has become a strategic tool for nurse recruitment, retention and resilience that has been adopted by healthcare organizations and schools of nursing in the U.S. and around the world. Learn more about the program from The DAISY Foundation.

Two ladies holding certificates in front of a star-themed background.

Midge Dempsey and Nikki Dixon, Midwest Transplant Network, pose with The DAISY Team Award certificates they received at a ceremony at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas.

Four ladies posing for a picture in front of a star-themed background.

Midge Dempsey, Jennifer Scheuber, Amy Keith, Wesley Medical Center, and Nikki Dixon are all smiles at The DAISY Awards celebration.

Wesley Healthcare recognized its Surgical Intensive Care Unit with The DAISY Team Award at a ceremony during National Nurses Week.

Midwest Transplant Network Presents Annual Awards for Organ, Eye and Tissue Donation Excellence

April 25, 2024/in

/by Nez Savala

Midwest Transplant Network staff members recognize their partners in saving lives through organ, eye and tissue donation by presenting the annual Excellence in Donation Awards to hospitals, individuals and organizations in our community.

Based on 2023 donation outcomes, Midwest Transplant Network presents the Excellence in Organ and Tissue Donation Awards to hospitals that had a higher-than-average number of families granting authorization for donation. The organization also gives these awards to exceptional partners in hospitals; licensing, treasury and Department of Revenue offices; medical examiner officers; funeral homes and beyond. These individuals made an extraordinary contribution to Midwest Transplant Network’s lifesaving mission.

Butterflies and Organ Donation

The butterfly holds deep symbolism in organ, eye and tissue donation. The butterfly is associated with hope, renewal and transformation; just as a caterpillar undergoes metamorphosis to become a butterfly, organ donation represents a transformative process for donor families and transplant recipients – the gift of life that brings hope to those in need.

Award honorees received a beautiful, pressed flower butterfly print by artist Ashley Foster. She believes that flowers symbolize joy, love and gratitude.

2024 Excellence in Donation Honorees

Midwest Transplant Network collaborates with 250 hospitals and recognized the following:

Organ and tissue excellence: Overland Park Regional Medical Center, Freeman Health System, Hays Medical Center, Lee’s Summit Medical Center, Saint Luke’s East Hospital, Capital Region Medical Center, Hutchinson Regional Medical Center.

Organ excellence: AdventHealth South Overland Park, Mercy Hospital Joplin, Centerpoint Medical Center, Stormont Vail Health Care, The University of Kansas Health System, Olathe Medical Center, Liberty Hospital, Saint Luke’s North Hospital.

Tissue excellence: Mosaic Life Care, AdventHealth Shawnee Mission, Salina Regional Health Center, The University of Kansas Health System St. Francis Campus, Kansas Medical Center, Nevada Regional Medical Center.

In addition to hospitals, Midwest Transplant Network collaborates with countless individuals and teams and recognized the following:

Individual and group honorees: Olivia Zhang, CST, University of Missouri Health Care; Amy Keith, BSN, Wesley Medical Center; Crystal Vail, RN, BSN, Freeman; Ciara Wright, Ph.D, The University of Kansas Health System; Johnson County Medical Examiner’s Office; Deborah Washam, RN, MS, Greater Kansas City Black Nurses Association; Anthony Harrington, MD, Blue Sky Neurology, Research Medical Center; Naftali Presser, MD, Research Medical Center; Bhargava Mullapudi, MD, Children’s Mercy Kansas City; Andrew Widman, volunteer Ambassador.

About Midwest Transplant Network

Midwest Transplant Network has been connecting lives through organ donation since 1973. As the federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organization (OPO) for Kansas and the western two-thirds of Missouri, Midwest Transplant Network provides services including organ procurement; surgical tissue and eye recovery; laboratory testing; and 24-hour rapid response for referrals from hospital partners. Midwest Transplant Network ranks in the top 10% in the country among OPOs, which reflects the organization’s quality, professionalism and excellence in partnerships throughout the region. For more information, visit mwtn.org.

A butterfly made of pressed flowers in a photo frame.

A pressed flower butterfly print given to award honorees at MTN’s Excellence in Donation ceremony.

Guests seated at a table at an awards celebration.

Guests at MTN’s annual Excellence in Donation Awards ceremony smile for a photo.

Andrew Widman, MTN Ambassador, speaking at the podium at MTN’s Excellence in Donation Awards ceremony.

Excellence in Donation Awards ceremony guests participating in a bubble remembrance.

Partner Spotlight — Lisa Miller, Jackson County, Kansas, Treasurer’s Office

November 21, 2023/in

/by Midwest Transplant Network

Midwest Transplant Network partners with licensing, treasury and Department of Revenue offices in Kansas and western Missouri to grow the organ, eye and tissue donor registry. We spoke with Lisa Miller, Deputy Treasurer of the Jackson County, Kansas, Treasurer’s Office about why donation is so important to her.

Jackson County, Kansas, Deputy Treasurer Lisa Miller

How does your specific office help inform and educate patrons on the importance of joining the donor registry?

We display all of the items that are provided by MTN and also participate in the promotions for National Donate Life Month and National DMV Appreciation Month with a display in our office.

We have in the past had our pictures of our displays in the local newspaper.

Why do you feel your office’s efforts to promote the need for organ, eye and tissue donors are so important?

Our office has a personal connection to organ donation. We have two employees with relatives who are recipients of organ donation and one employee who is a living donor.

Tell us about your connection to organ, eye and tissue donation.

In April 2004, my husband became ill and ended up in the hospital with an infection. After many doctor’s appointments and several years later, he ended up in the hospital and was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. Our belief is that the infection had attacked his heart. His cardiologist referred us to the Saint Luke’s transplant program. After spending the first half of 2014 in and out of the hospital, he was finally added to the transplant waitlist in July. He entered the hospital in October and received his heart in December. Since, he has been able to see two of his children get married and is enjoying his four grandchildren and hunting with his sons.

What is the biggest misconception you hear about donation in your personal and/or professional life?

That the medical professionals will not provide the care needed to save a life if they know that the individual is a donor.

If there is one thing you would want to share with others about the importance of joining the donor registry, what would it be?

It truly is a gift of life.

Partner Spotlight — Linda Gerhardt, Jackson County, Kansas, Treasurer’s Office

September 28, 2023/in

/by Linda Gerhardt

As National DMV Appreciation Month comes to a close, Jackson County, Kansas, Treasurer Linda Gerhardt told us why organ, eye and tissue donation is personal to her.

Living donor and Jackson County, Kansas, Treasurer Linda Gerhardt

Mine is the story of a living kidney donor. My niece was diagnosed with diabetes when she was in high school. Her mother was diabetic, so she had inherited it. A few years after my niece got out of high school, she was continually sick and in and out of the hospital. She was on dialysis, and she did the dialysis at home at night and went to work during the day. She was a very hardworking, self-supporting young woman. The day came that she was told she needed a kidney transplant. She was put on the transplant waitlist and was told that could take quite a while.

As time went on, my niece became sicker; she was in and out of the hospital, and we worried she might not receive a kidney in time. One day I was at my mother’s, and she said to me, “If something were to happen to me, could Melody get one of my kidneys?” It suddenly opened my eyes. I told my sister of the conversation, and she said that she herself had asked the doctor about donating, and they had told her no because of a medical condition. I had never even given it a thought as a possibility. I was 39 years old and married with two boys. We were her dad’s sisters, so there was a chance we could match. Her parents were both deceased, and none of her brothers or sisters matched or for health reasons couldn’t donate. I suddenly realized this was something I could do.

I then started the process. I was an 80% match to Melody, and they told me that her dad and I probably would have been a perfect match. I had never been a person to go to the doctor unless I had to (kind of like not wanting to go to the dentist), but at the point of finding out I could help her, it was like God was leading my way. I had to monitor my blood pressure; I would go to the health department so they could record it for me. It would be high, and the nurse would say, “Let’s just visit for a while,” and then it would be fine. I passed all the tests.

We checked in at The University of Kansas Medical Center to do the surgery, and preliminary tests showed my niece had an infection, so it was put off for a month. The next time, we were good to go. My priest at church had announced to the congregation to pray for me and gave me a special blessing. It was all like it was meant to be.

On June 25, 2023, we marked 25 years since the transplant. I received the prettiest bouquet of flowers from her. Being an organ donor was never something I had considered, but knowing I could possibly save her life was such a good feeling. I never saw a bill for anything; it all went through my niece’s insurance.

When I was an organ donor, I did not work in the treasurer’s/driver’s license office. Now, I do, and I am honored to help inform people about and promote organ donation. It is amazing how surrounded we have been by organ donation in the courthouse. We’ve had a coworker’s husband receive a heart transplant and a coworker’s brother receive a kidney/pancreas transplant. And in the Register of Deeds office, a worker’s granddaughter received a lung transplant. On the third floor of the courthouse, a judge received a heart transplant, and a past employee’s husband received a kidney from his daughter. In some of these cases, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t be here today if not for others’ generous donations.

We always participate in whatever we can to promote organ donation at our office. No one knows when they might be the next one to have a loved one suffering from an illness they never expected, whose life depends on your decision or someone else’s. If you have ever been faced with someone you know needing an organ transplant, you would know how important it is to be on the donor registry. Please think about organ donation.

Our thanks to Linda Gerhardt for writing this guest blog post.

Partner Spotlight — Stefanie Dotson, Maryville Licensing Bureau

September 20, 2023/in

/by Midwest Transplant Network

In honor of National DMV Appreciation Month, we asked Assistant Manager Stefanie Dotson of the Maryville (Missouri) Licensing Bureau about her important role in the donation process. She also shared her personal ties to organ, eye and tissue donation in this Q&A.

Stefanie Dotson with her nephew, donor hero Aiden Jones

Maryville Licensing Bureau Assistant Manager Stefanie Dotson (left) with her nephew, donor hero Aiden

Q: Tell us a bit about the role the DMV plays in organ, eye and tissue donation.

A: As a DMV worker, any time I issue a permit or driver’s license, we ask if they would like to be an organ, eye and tissue donor. I have found that many people are unaware of the program and have no knowledge of the benefits. At that time, I am able to inform them with the facts and use my personal experiences so they can make the right decision for them.

Q: Tell us about your connection to organ, eye and/or tissue donation.

A: I have several connections to the organ, eye and tissue donation program. I have a friend who has received two kidneys, and I’m happy to report she’s doing great. My mother-in-law had three kinds of cancer, and my husband was still able to donate her corneas when she passed. The one most dear to my heart is my organ donor hero nephew. He was 16 years old when tragedy struck, and we found ourselves devastated by the news he would not be going home with us. I looked at my sister and said, “You know what the next question is, right?” She said, “No, what?” I said, “Do you want to donate his organs?” She took a bit to talk it over and decided she would. The honor walk was amazing. My sister has since received letters from some of the recipients, which have been amazing to read.

Q: How does your specific office help inform and educate patrons on the importance of joining the donor registry?

A: Our office always tries to find fun ways to open up the conversation about being a donor. We like to participate in any decorating contests that are available, we have different displays with facts about being a donor and we include the people we know are recipients or have become a donor hero in our display. Around the holidays, we decorate a tree with the donation colors and add bracelets for the public.

Q: Why do you feel your office’s efforts to promote the need for organ, eye and tissue donors are so important?

A: I feel it is important to inform people of the facts about being a donor. There are lots of misconceptions out there about the details that scare people away. When people are informed with facts, it’s easier for them to make the decision to be an organ donor.

Q: What is the biggest misconception you hear about donation that you hear in your personal and/or professional life?

A: The biggest misconception I hear is: “I was told I can’t donate my organs by this doctor because of this.”

My mother-in-law’s corneas were still used even though she had three different cancers.

Q: If there is one thing you’d want to share with others about the importance of joining the donor registry, what would it be?

A: I just would like people to realize how life-changing it is to be a recipient of an organ. Your loved one gets to live on and is celebrated by people you never knew existed because they are a part of your loved one, with them every day.

The Ultimate Gift of Life

February 15, 2022/in

/by Midwest Transplant Network

Every year, MTN and 90.9 FM The Bridge collaborate to give families of donor heroes the opportunity to share their loved ones’ stories and for donation advocates to discuss why organ, eye and tissue donation is important to them.

Everyone knows Feb. 14 as Valentine’s Day, a day to share love and sweet sentiments. But it is also National Donor Day. It is a day to appreciate donors and loved ones who have given the gift of life, have received a donation, are currently waiting or did not receive an organ in time.

It is no coincidence that a day synonymous with love coincides with a day to commemorate those who have given the ultimate gift of love.

Here are a few words about this year’s featured donor heroes, from the people who love them most.

Isaiah “Zay” Ross

“When we received the letters informing us that individuals had received his organs there was a calmness in my spirit,” said Allena Ross, Isaiah’s mother. “It let me know that my son continues to live on and we are intentionally keeping his name alive.”

Josh Birrell

“One of the neatest things is seeing all the people that came forward that we never met whose lives Josh had touched. I don’t know how to explain it except that he was almost like a light for a lot of people, including me, and I know I’m a better person because of him,” said Josh’s dad, Jon Birrell.

Christopher Hutson Jr

“Chris was nothing but love. He still is a very important part of our life. He just wanted to be with family, to love one another and be loved,” said Christopher Hutson Sr., Christopher’s father.

Michele Baumgardner

“You want to do the right thing by your loved one; you want to honor their wishes; you want to do something for them,” said Michele’s daughter, Monica Umlauf. “She was only 55 years old. So, I felt that it was really important to really give her one last thing that she really would have wanted.”

Michael Moncure, MD, FACS

“If you’ve ever had a loved one who’s undergone an organ transplant, you see someone’s life transformed into something that’s a good quality of life. That is irreplaceable. I’ve seen a lot of organ transplantation and it is a miracle,” said Dr. Michael Moncure, Professor and Vice Chair of Surgery, UMKC; Assistant Director of Surgery, University Health; and Medical Director, MTN.

Stephanie Meyer

“A good friend from high school had posted that my recipient had polycystic kidney disease and had been added to the [transplant waiting] list. I saw this post on the anniversary of my father’s passing. Every year I try to do something to pay it forward and do something in memory of him, said Stephanie Meyer, a living kidney donor. “So, to me, that was like the perfect God wink, like, this is what you’re supposed to do.”

Listen to interviews from these donor families and donation advocates here.

2021: Maximizing the Gift of Life

January 18, 2022/in

/by Midwest Transplant Network

Midwest Transplant Network continued saving and enhancing more lives through organ, eye and tissue donation in 2021. Our staff members and partners worked diligently to enhance donation processes, maximizing the gift of life our donor heroes generously chose to share.

The light of hope shines brighter than ever, thanks to everyone who advocates for and supports donation.

In 2021, we were inspired by glimmers of hope: hope that past challenges create future opportunities; hope that the journey leads us exactly where we need to go. This past year demonstrated the strength of our mission and the extraordinary qualities of those who serve it. Join us in reflecting on the gift of life offered through organ, eye and tissue donation.

the impact of organ, eye & tissue donors from the MTN service area in 2020. 341 organ donors. 898 organs transplanted. 1938 tissue & cornea donors. 33896 transplant-supporting lab tests performed

2020: A Record-Breaking Year

January 27, 2021/in

/by Midwest Transplant Network

Midwest Transplant Network’s lifesaving and life-enhancing work continued in 2020, despite the pandemic. We coordinated a record number of organ donations for an increase of 21% from our previous record (set in 2019), recovered tissues from nearly 2,000 donors and enabled nearly 900 organ transplants.

We are incredibly grateful for our donor heroes and their families, our community partners and our staff members for helping us give the gift of life to so many in need during a challenging year.

Thank you, healthcare and front-line heroes

2020 in Review

January 19, 2021/in

/by Midwest Transplant Network

Despite the many challenges MTN and organizations globally faced, 2020 was a year of true heroism as we worked with our community partners to save and enhance lives through organ, eye and tissue donation. None of these incredible gifts would be possible without our generous donors and their families. Thank you to everyone who played a role in our 2020 successes!

Take a look back at our remarkable year: