Alberta's Health Minister Jason Copping announcing details of the SEND program on Monday, May 9, 2022. (Photo: Government of Alberta)

By Justin Goulet

Health

New provincial program to improve opportunities for organ donation

May 9, 2022 | 2:14 PM

CALGARY, AB – The Government of Alberta has announced a new investment to boost the access to and availability of organ donations across the province.

The new $2 million Specialist in End-of-Life Care, Neuroprognostication and Donation program, also known as SEND, has resulted in 22 specialist physicians coordinating organ donation and transplant opportunities at local health facilities in the province.

The physicians have been trained and are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The province said the program will help improve the identification of potential donors, support families considering consent at a difficult time, and save more lives.

Alberta’s Minister of Health Jason Copping said, “thank you to all those Albertans who are living donors and to the families of those who, in their hour of grief, choose to help out other families by agreeing to their loved ones (about) becoming a donor.”

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“SEND funding for recruitment, training and coordination will find new opportunities for organ donors to save lives,” adds Copping.

The province noted that donation rates in Alberta have risen by 28 per cent from 2011. However, hundreds of residents are still waiting for life-saving transplants.

Prior to the SEND program, Northern and Southern Alberta each had a medical director who also functioned as a donation specialist physician. There were no dedicated donation physician positions for individual hospitals and intensive care units.

The initiative is offering improved education for physicians, residents and other healthcare providers regarding end-of-life care, neuroprognostication, and organ and tissue donation, to help ensure opportunities for donations are not missed.

The program has resulted in two SEND physicians (one shared position) in Lethbridge as well as positions in the following communities:

• Six SEND physicians and one program lead in Calgary
• Six SEND physicians and one program lead in Edmonton
• One SEND physician in Red Deer
• Two SEND physicians (one shared position) in Grande Prairie
• One pediatric SEND physician at Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary
• Two pediatric SEND physicians (one shared position) at Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton

It is expected that the program will expand to Medicine Hat and Fort McMurray in 2023.

In addition to improved education, SEND is leading to the implementation of donor audits. That means reviewing patient care records of individuals who die in emergency departments and intensive care units to identify any reasons potential organ donors may have been missed.