Diane Brockmeier, president and CEO of Mid-America Transplant, has been elected to serve as the president of the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO). She will serve a three-year term as a president-elect, president and immediate past president. Her term begins July 1.

As president, Brockmeier will chair AOPO’s board of directors and preside over the executive committee. She will lead AOPO in providing education and collaboration for 58 U.S. organizations responsible for facilitating organ and tissue donations for transplant. Brockmeier plans to champion a heightened focus on collaboration across organ procurement organizations (OPOs), and the pursuit of innovations and performance improvement processes that can improve the speed and quality of donation.

“When I began working in this industry more than 30 years ago, I was captivated by our mission, and remain in awe of the lifesaving work we do in our industry,” said Brockmeier. “I am humbled to be a voice to advocate for donors, their families and those who wait on the transplant list for the gift of a second chance at life.”

Throughout her career, Brockmeier has served in many roles for AOPO, including secretary and treasurer, chair of the Standards and Accreditation Committee, co-chair of the Chief Operation Officers Council, and co-chair of the Strategic Planning Task Force. She also has held positions on several committees at the United Network for Organ Sharing Participation (UNOS). In addition, she has been involved on the boards of several health organizations, including LifeLogics, which provides technology to manage donor registries, tissue processor Allosource, the Foundation for Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics, and the University of Missouri School of Nursing.

Since joining Mid-America Transplant as a nurse in 1986, Brockmeier has been nationally recognized for her collaborative efforts to establish key quality benchmarks and enhance organ and tissue donation recovery, quality and processing. She was the driving force behind the design and construction of a first in the nation on-site surgical suite for organ recovery, which resulted in enhanced quality control and convenience for donor hospitals and surgeons. These efforts helped earn Mid-America Transplant the Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence in 2015. The two projects are now shared as best practice examples nationwide.

Locally, Brockmeier has been recognized for her leadership in St. Louis’ healthcare industry as a 2016 Most Influential Business Woman by the St. Louis Business Journal, and a 2016 Healthcare Accomplishment Recognition Award recipient by the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association.

About Mid-America Transplant
Mid-America Transplant enables adults and children to receive lifesaving gifts through organ and tissue donations. For more than 40 years, it has facilitated and coordinated organ and tissue donation, and now serves 84 counties covering eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and northeast Arkansas that together are home to 4.7 million people. It saves lives by providing expert and compassionate care for organ donors, recipients and families, and transforms the clinical processes required to recover and transplant organs and tissues. Mid-America Transplant was the first such organization in the U.S. to use an in-house operating room for organ recovery and pioneered innovative models of increasing donor registry enrollment in an effort to provide organs and tissues to those in need. It is federally designated as one of 58 such organizations in the U.S., and is the first organ procurement organization to be recognized as a recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence. For more information, visit www.midamericatransplant.org.

About the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO)
AOPO is a non-profit, national organization representing all federally-designated organ procurement organizations (OPOs). The Association represents and serves OPOs through advocacy, support and the development of activities that will maximize the availability of organs and tissues and enhance the quality, effectiveness and integrity of the donation process. For more information, visit www.aopo.org. 

When Medora, Illinois began its 4 on the 4th Run/Walk celebration to raise funds for a cause, Mary Loy approached organizers about supporting Mid-America Transplant. Mary is a donor mother who is passionate about organ and tissue donation. Her 42-year-old daughter Melissa was a donor in 2013.

As the fifth annual four-mile run/walk event held on the Fourth of July approached this year, organizers contacted Mary with a special request. They asked if Melissa’s 16-year-old liver recipient, Zoe Kienstra, would be interested in kicking off the 4 on the 4th.

Zoe readily agreed to walk with Mary, who Zoe has referred to as a second grandma in her life. “I’m very excited,” said Mary. “I cry when I talk about it. Our families have become close.”

Mary says Melissa would be proud. “Organ donation has turned a tragedy in our life into a blessing,” Mary said. “If Melissa had not passed away and given her liver to Zoe and her heart to a man on the East Coast … Melissa saved two lives. She was a lifesaver. It’s almost like a part of her is still here.”

Now, 12-year-old Gavin is taking his story to the 2017 Transplant Patient Summit in Washington D.C. this fall as a representative of Wyoming. Hosted by the American Society of Transplantation, the conference helps participants become transplant ambassadors and empower them to advocate for the field of transplantation.

“I'd like to learn about how many kids have been transplanted and how many kids are still waiting,” Gavin said. “Every child should have a chance to live a long time and organ donation is one way all of us can help them.”

Gavin received a lifesaving liver transplant at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in 2014. Since then, he has inspired others through his activity in school, soccer, basketball, and refereeing football.

At the Summit, Gavin will be one of 100 transplant recipients or living donors representing each state.  “I’m looking forward to meeting others who have had transplants and being able to talk to government people about how important organ donation is,” Gavin said.

Celebrate Life 5K Run/Walk Details

“Forest Park is such an important part of the St. Louis region,” said Nicole Kellen, director of donor and family services. “It showcases the area’s major cultural institutions, and this summer it provides a beautiful backdrop for honoring donors and their families. By moving the event to Forest Park, we have ample space and parking to allow for more growth in the future, which is exciting!”

In 2016, about 800 people signed up for the inaugural Celebrate Life 5K Run/Walk at Creve Coeur Lake Park. This spring, more than 1,600 people registered for the event. Our hope in April was to use grass field near the Treymayne Shelter as overflow parking. The weather wouldn’t allow for that.

Typically, rescheduling an event like the 2017 Celebrate Life 5K Run/Walk would require finding a new open date at the same location. In this case, we sought a new location that could accommodate the Celebrate Life 5K Run/Walk into a busy summer schedule. We’re excited to have found a date at Forest Park.

The Donor Memorial Monument is located near Mid-America Transplant’s offices just across Interstate 64/Highway 40 from Forest Park. The Monument stands in honor of organ and tissue donors and their families. The Donor Memorial Monument was designed to host special memorial events for families throughout the years. However, we encourage all donor families to visit the monument and park privately or with family and friends, as it was created specifically for them as a sacred place to remember and honor their loved ones.

The pride beams from Elvira McGee’s face as she talks about her cousin who was a donor in 2016. “He was 17,” she said. “He saved five people with his organs.” Elvira visited a organ and tissue donor registry drive hosted by SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital in partnership with Mid-America Transplant on Friday, which was National Blue & Green Day.

She added her name to the Wall of Honor, a growing collection of heart decals in which registered organ and tissue donors sign their name above the sentence, “I will give life.” As Elvira signed a heart, her sisters joined her at the table. They discussed if each had joined the registry. “I’m a donor,” Elvira said. “I’m excited to do that. My sisters say they are, but I want to be sure.”

Inspired by their cousin, Elvira’s sisters completed the Missouri Organ and Tissue Donor Registry form. All three placed signed hearts on the Wall of Honor.

Saint Louis University Hospital administrators participated to show their support. Hospital representatives included Chief Operating Officer Gretchen Leiterman; Administrative Director of Transplant, Trauma and Hospital Service Lines Landon Ware; Transplant Surgeon Dr. Henry Randall; Transplant Program Manager Sherry Tenge; and Transplant Business Manager Aaron Weston. After adding their names to the Wall of Honor, they joined members of the transplant team for group pictures at our photo booth.

By the end of the day, more than 150 people joined the Wall of Honor on Friday. That could lead to 1,200 lives saved by organ donation and more than 7,500 lives impacted by tissue donation.    

Blake Bahr was ready. He was ready for fresh air and time with family and friends. He was ready to see his living donor. He was ready for the Homers for Health Game Ball Relay - GBR17.

A two-year-old kidney recipient, Blake hasn’t left his home much since the holidays to avoid cold and flu season. So a beautiful, sunny, 70-degree day was the icing on the cake for Team Blake, who was the honoree for the first leg of the 5th annual Homers for Health Game Ball Relay on Sunday afternoon in advance of Opening Day at Busch Stadium. The relay is a partnership between SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital and the St. Louis Cardinals in which patients from the hospital run a relay with the Opening Day game ball from SSM Health Cardinal Glennon to Busch Stadium.

“We are super excited to be involved with something like this with SSM Health Cardinal Glennon because they’ve done so much for our family,” said Heather Bahr, Blake’s mother. “This is such a cool event.”

View photos from the Homers for Health Game Ball Relay

Blake and his team – including his parents, Heather and Nick; his living donor, Laurie; many family members; and Mid-America Transplant representatives – made their way down South Spring Avenue before turning east on Chouteau Avenue. A couple blocks later, Blake handed the ball to Kennedy Burger, a 7-year-old with nephrotic syndrome. She’s expected to need a kidney transplant within two years. “We know her family, so we have that connection,” said Heather Bahr. “To pass off to her family is pretty cool.”

The warm weather was a welcome addition to the day for Blake and his family. “Being a transplant recipient, he’s been caged up for months and months during cold and flu season,” said Heather Bahr. “We always said on April 1, we would get him out and about doing things outside. To be able to do this with our family and Laurie, is incredible.”

Laurie is Blake’s living donor. “She’s an amazing lady and a huge Cardinal fan,” Heather Bahr said. “It’s special. We always say this, but we can’t imagine a better person to be part of our son and part of our lives.”

Inspired by Blake and Laurie, the Mid-America Transplant Foundation was a proud sponsor of Team Blake for the Homers for Health Game Ball Relay.

Blake received a lifesaving kidney transplant on January 18, 2016. He was born on November 11, 2014 and diagnosed with End Stage Renal Disease.

Blake and his family returned home one week after transplant. “He went from being on dialysis 13-24 hours every day to survive, having a feeding tube for nutrition and being completely lethargic and immobile,” Heather Bahr said. “Now a year post transplant, Blake is a thriving, tube-free, 2-year-old little boy.”

As a child, Dr. Sreelatha Varma grew up in a modest household in India. Her father instilled philanthropic values. He pledged 70 percent of the family’s income to supporting or developing charities for blind children, educating orphans, and other causes. Dr. Varma recalls asking for a dress as a child.  “He would look at me and say, ‘Do you need it or want it,’” Dr. Varma said. “It was not an absolute necessity.” That mindset – that upbringing – has paved a path for Dr. Varma’s life.

A self-taught artist, she began painting as a teenager in India. She developed her skillset in painting throughout her lifetime, which included medical school to become a primary care physician with SLUCare Physician Group. On March 31, her latest show called “Dream” will open at Grafica Fine Art & Custom Framing and benefit the Mid-America Transplant Foundation and Family House.

“Most of the artwork I’ve done in my life, I’ve done to benefit charities,” Dr. Varma said. “That came from my father, the greatest inspiration in my life. When I started on the Dream series, I dreamt all of the artwork before I put it on the palette. So it’s very special to me.”

Supporting Family House was a natural fit. Dr. Varma’s husband, Dr. Chintalapati Rathna Varma, is a liver and kidney transplant surgeon at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital. She speaks of the deep impact of letters sent by her husband’s patients. “We get a lot of letters. He’s a very kind man, very compassionate,” Dr. Varma said. They write about “how much they enjoyed meeting him, how compassionate he is, how much love he gave, and how much their family is enjoying the time because their loved one is alive today. You will cry.”

Dr. Chintalapati Rathna Varma sees a correlation between his wife’s professional life and her desire to give to others through her art. “These paintings are an expression of how she feels life should be,” he said, noting his wife teaches holistic approaches to medicine and yoga 3-4 times per week. “That’s naturally what comes from her. I’m just amazed.”

‘Like it was meant to be’

Dr. Varma was introduced to Grafica’s owners, Lynn and Lary Bozzay, through a friend of a friend. Grafica hosts 4-5 events annually, but typically not charity events. “We’re intrigued by the idea that she paints based on her visions, and she paints from Eastern tradition,” Lary Bozzay said. “For our clientele, it’s not something we would normally carry at our gallery. We were just so interested by the idea of a professional who does painting on the side and wants to give back.”

Grafica will host two organ and tissue donor registry drives during the show, which is hosted throughout National Donate Life Month, a national observance aimed at increasing national and regional attention on how every individual has the potential to make life possible by registering their decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor. Visitors to Grafica will be invited to join the registry on April 1 and April 29 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The show will benefit Family House, which provides comfortable, safe and affordable single-family apartment living for transplant patients and their families who must relocate to St. Louis for lifesaving pre- and post-transplant care. More than 90 transplant patients have stayed at Family House since it opened in December 2013.

Dr. Varma works with oils, acrylics and mixed media. She often focuses on the age old Indian art technique of Kalamkari.  Inspired by Thomas Kinkade, an American painter dubbed “The Painter of Light,” Dr. Varma is including a personal reproduction of one of his works in the show. “He’s a great artist, and he also did so much philanthropy. Everything he earned, he gave back to society. That’s where my inspiration is.”

Dr. Varma described the series’ title painting: “Every dream has a meaning. In this dream, it was a very rough sea. Someone is sitting. They’re thinking, ‘this is not my life, this is just a rough sea and I’m going through a lot.’ Suddenly, bright peacock feathers appear, and she was dreaming that her future is going to be bright. She didn’t care about the rough seas.”

“The Dream” speaks to her larger message of the entire series. “When you look at the paintings, you should have peace and tranquility,” Dr. Varma said. “My message is the light in dark life. When you see these paintings, you feel the light, you feel the hope in your heart. You feel serenity.”

The Details

“Dream” by Dr. Sreelatha Varma

Opening Reception: Friday, March 31 from 6-9 p.m. 
at Grafica Fine Art & Custom Framing
7884 Big Bend Blvd
Webster Groves, MO 63119
314-961-4020

Show continues through April 29.

Register to become an organ, eye and tissue donor at Grafica on April 1 and April 29 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Albert House would send inspirational text messages to family and friends every day. A simple note of encouragement, a note of finding the light in darkness, a note of perseverance. It meant so much to his daughter, his sisters, and all who received these notes of inspired words from an inspiring soul.

“And he would send them individually at the time you said was convenient for you,” said his daughter Vernetta Davis, who is a heart transplant recipient. “So mine came at 4:45, because he knew I was getting up to go to work.

“I got mine at 6:30 because I was getting up,” said Linda Daniels, one of Albert’s sisters.

“And I got mine at 5 o’clock,” said Christina House, another sister.

“There were 20 or 30 people on his list,” Vernetta said. “So all day long, he was sending out text messages. I still have the last one he sent.”

Vernetta, Christina and Linda were joined by a pew full of family to remember Albert at Mid-America Transplant’s Candlelight Memorial Ceremony on Thursday night at Salem United Methodist Church. Albert was one of 83 donors honored during a 75-minute service remembering and celebrating the lives of those who gave the Gift of Life through organ and tissue donation in the past 12 months.

Albert’s family reminisced about the time he purchased a new phone. “He didn’t know how to work it,” Linda said. “And we couldn’t get a hold of him. So I drove over to his house, and he was just sitting outside. I said, ‘First of all, are you OK?’”

Albert responded, “Yes.”

“OK, now I’m going to hurt you.”

“What?”

“We haven’t had our inspirationals for three or four days.”

“I don’t know how to work this phone.”

Smiles. Laughter. Happy memories. Memories that celebrate a life that gave so much to so many.

For others, the happy memories were shared through tears. Dianna Blount was there to honor her 22-year-old daughter Kayla. Dianna didn’t know Kayla had joined the registry until a tragic car accident took her life. Years before, when Dianna told Kayla she wanted to be a donor, Kayla gave her a hard time. Dianna didn’t expect her daughter had also made that same courageous decision. “I was so proud of her,” Dianna said.

Kayla helped another young woman walk with her cartilage donation. She helped many others with her corneas and tissues. After Kayla’s accident, Dianna purchased a Build-A-Bear for Kayla’s one-year-old son. She had a recording of Kayla’s voice inserted into the bear so he can always hear her voice. And she keeps mementoes and notes of Kayla’s legacy for him to read when he’s older.

For Jo Ann Williams’ family, they were remembering her Elvis Presley memorabilia – “She had one gaudy room of Elvis, but she loved it” said her sister, Pat Mees – and her eyes. “She donated her eyes to help someone else see,” said Bob Mees, Jo Ann’s brother-in-law.

Pat said, “We all commented on how beautiful her eyes were. For this to be something her daughter decided to do, it’s pretty awesome.”

Two recipients spoke and expressed their gratitude to the donor families attending the memorial ceremony. Cornea recipient Dave Rueschoff spoke about writing his donor’s wife, Kelly, and how important the gift of sight is to him. “Vision is such an important part of our everyday life,” Dave said. “I count my lucky stars and thank God each and every single day for the blessing of sight that I have received. For Kelly and her family, and for all the donor families today, I thank you. Not only for the gift that was given to me, but the gift you have given to others.”

Lori Sauerwein is a lung recipient who spoke about her donor Kyle, who was 19 years old (the same age as her son) when he was in a devastating car accident. “Just like Kyle’s family, each of you is a hero,” Lori told the audience. “A miracle worker. Not only for saving people like me, but for honoring your loved ones in the most glorious way possible. I know I speak for all recipients when I say thank you. Thank you for discovering light in the darkness. Thank you for finding courage amidst your pain. And thank you for giving us life.”   

Dr. Mary E. Schmidt Case, Chief Medical Examiner for St. Louis, Franklin, St. Charles and Jefferson counties, is an exceptional advocate for corneal and tissue donation. Through her leadership, Dr. Case has made possible the gift of sight for thousands of transplant recipients by collaborating with Mid-America Transplant’s Eye Bank.

Supportive of donation for more than 25 years as medical examiner, Dr. Case was recognized Friday night with the Gift of Sight Award at the Eye Bank Association of America’s (EBAA) 55th Annual Meeting at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark.

The Gift of Sight Award is presented to an individual or group who works closely with the eye banking community and has gone above and beyond in support of eye and corneal donation.  This award honors a person who has had an impact on eye banking and made an extraordinary contribution to sight restoration.

With the family’s consent, she allows donation to begin before an autopsy and expeditiously releases preliminary causes of death to make corneas available for transplant. “If donation is something the family gives permission to do, and precludes me from ever finding out why their loved one died, I’m OK with that,” Dr. Case said. “Is helping others not a greater need than finding out why someone has died?”

Dr. Case has developed a culture supportive of donation in the medical examiner’s offices, providing donation opportunities and materials to families along with grief/bereavement resources and highlights donation on the office’s website. “You only have to see one person who has received an organ or a tissue to understand the value,” Dr. Case said. “In my own office, I have a man who received corneas. I have a close friend who received a kidney.

About EBAA
The Eye Bank Association of America, established in 1961, is the oldest transplant association in the nation and champions the restoration of sight through corneal transplantation.  EBAA has led the transplantation field with the establishment of medical standards for the distribution of eyes and comprehensive training and certification programs for eye banking personnel. Over 80 member eye banks operate in the United States, Canada and Asia.  These eye banks made possible 76,431 sight-restoring corneal transplants in 2014, and the opportunity to perform more transplants is significant because virtually everyone is a universal donor. The function of corneal tissue is not dependent on blood type, age, strength of eyesight or the color of the eye. To learn more, visit www.restoresight.org.