Pekin Hospital to Join International Tissue Donation Program

(January 14, 2010) - Pekin Hospital welcomed an audit team to its facility on January 13 as part of the process of joining an international venture to provide donated human tissue to recipients in Germany.

The hospital welcomed a team from the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation (MTF)--Dr. Monica Montenero, Director of International Tissue Services and Dr. George McCann, Education Director--who reviewed the facility to assure ongoing compliance with MTF’s quality and safety standards. Once the audit is complete, Pekin will become part of an international arrangement between MTF and its subsidiary DIZG, the German Institute of Cell and Tissue Replacement, to send tissue from Pekin to DIZG.

The need for donated tissue extends beyond the borders of the United States. For many years, Pekin Hospital has partnered with MTF to provide a tissue donation program to meet the needs of local transplant recipients. The international venture is an extension of the tissue donation program that is already in place.

“We are very pleased to have visitors from MTF reviewing our facilities. We are happy to participate in this program to provide tissue from our donors to those in need in another country,” noted Pekin Vice President of Nursing, Jo Ellen Patterson, RN, MS.

“MTF is committed to making the connection between the gift of a donor family and improvement in the lives of thousands of tissue recipients,” added Dr. Montenero. “We are gratified to see that a hospital like Pekin is willing to help us with this important international venture.

MTF and DIZG
The Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation, the nation’s largest tissue bank, changes lives by connecting donors with surgeons and transplant recipients. As a non-profit service organization, MTF is dedicated to providing quality tissue through a commitment to excellence in education, research, recovery and care for recipients, donors and their families. Since its inception in 1987, MTF has recovered more than 60,000 donors and has distributed more than 3 million grafts for transplantation.
DIZG is one of the largest tissue banks outside the US and one of the founding members of the European Association of Tissue Banks.

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