Alabama Organ Center (AOC)

Director: Dem Lalisan, MBA, CPTC

Medical Director: Devin Eckhoff, MD

Established: 1979

Mission and Demographics

The Alabama Organ Center’s (AOC) mission is to provide families an opportunity to donate organs and tissues for transplantation or research, to support these families regardless of their decision, and to promote equitable utilization of these gifts to others. The AOC serves a population of 4.3 million people and over one hundred hospitals in Alabama. The AOC is a member of the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network and is certified by the United Network for Organ Sharing and the Food and Drug Administration.

The Center’s Function

The AOC is the federally designated organ procurement organization for the state and provides organ and tissue recovery services for hospitals and funeral homes in Alabama. All transplantable organs are recovered for distribution with the transplant system. Tissues recovered include bone tissue, connective tissue, heart valves, and other cardiovascular tissues. Finally, the AOC recovers organs and tissue for research organizations if requested by the family or when they are not suitable for transplantation. The Center provides research tissue to various organizations, including UAB researchers and other NIH investigators. In every case, the donor family determines which organs or tissues are recovered and how the organs and tissues are used. The donor’s designation of gift and/or a recorded or written consent from the Next of Kin is obtained.

Over the past twenty years the AOC has provided over 6,300 organs for transplantation. Unfortunately, there are now over 98,000 people in the US who wait for organ transplants. Nearly 3,200 of these people are listed on the Alabama waiting list. The AOC hopes to decrease this number by facilitating the donor process and by coordinating the recovery of organs and tissues for transplantation at the transplant centers in Alabama.

The Center is also committed to increasing knowledge about donation and transplantation, while eliminating common misconceptions regarding donation through ongoing public and professional education programs. The AOC is dedicated to providing a better quality of life for those people who require transplantation, while respecting the families of donors.

Staff Training

Coordinators and perfusionists receive in-house training for a one-year period in all aspects of organ and tissue recovery and preservation. This training program is provided by UAB transplant surgeons, the AOC Medical Director, and the AOC management team. The staff is monitored by an in-house quality assurance program. All coordinators and perfusionists receive additional training from the North American Transplant Coordinators Organization and the International Society for Organ Preservation. Eligible procurement staff are certified by the American Board of Transplant Coordinators.

For more information on donation: www.alabamaorgancenter.org

To register as a donor on the state donor registry: www.legacyalabama.org

For additional information:

Director: Dem Lalisan, MBA, CPTC

Email: dem.lalisan@ccc.uab.edu

Phone: 205-731-9200 or 1-800-252-3677

Approved by: Dem Lalisan, MBA, CPTC, Director

Date: April 16, 2008

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