Hawaii News: Donated Organs First Offered Locally

By June Watanabe

Question:

Regarding the article about St. Francis Hospital transplant patients, where one got a heart and two got kidneys, but the liver went to a mainland recipient: Is there a reason why the liver went to the mainland? Is there a reason why an organ doesn't stay in Hawaii when you donate an organ?

Answer:

Yes, and in particular, as it relates to the liver.

But local residents may benefit from donations from the mainland, as well, according to Robyn Kaufman, executive director of the Organ Donor Center of Hawaii.

The Organ Donor Center of Hawaii is part of the nonprofit United Network for Organ Sharing. Last summer, Hawaii was regrouped with Region 6 (Pacific Northwest), instead of Region 5 (urban areas of California, including Los Angeles).

Under the network's rules, donated organs are offered locally first. If there is no match, then they are offered regionally, then nationally. Last summer, the network, which sets clinical policies for organ allocation, revised its liver policy, so that livers have to be offered regionally first.

Luckily, Hawaii is no longer part of the immense California region, which includes large transplant centers with many patients.

"Because we're now in a region with transplant centers of similar size and similar philosophy, we should have reciprocity in organ sharing," Kaufman said.

She also said that if you "look at the numbers as a whole, we have not seen an increase in livers taken out of state" since last summer. "So we're pretty confident that Hawaii's people are being served by the transplant program here."

However, there is still some uncertainty as to what the federal government may require.

In March, a new regulation on organ sharing was instituted by Donna Shalala, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, giving the sickest patients anywhere first priority in securing organs.

"But we haven't seen any impact yet in Hawaii," Kaufman said.

Also, because Hawaii is in Region 6 "we don't really anticipate a big change. We feel kind of protected."

But there is legislation pending in Congress which may affect even the newest regulation.

"We don't really know what's going to happen at the federal level because a lot is up in the air, legislatively," Kaufman said.

Copyright © 2000 Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

This article posted October 4, 2000.