Sask. government creates physician, nurse roles to improve organ donation rate

Three "donor physicians" will share a half-time position as part of what the province says will be a new model for organ and tissue donation in Saskatchewan.

"I think it's a start," said Scott Livingstone, the CEO of the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

Intensive care physicians Dr. JoannKawchuk,Dr.AlastairWall andDr.BalrajSinghBrarhave each signed a contract to champion organ donation within the Saskatchewan health system.

"We're going to put all our efforts into this," said Health Minister JimReiter. "Saskatchewan's had nothing in the past as far as donor physicians so I think this is a huge step forward."

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Health officials have budgeted $566,000 this year to increase the province's donation rates, which lag behind those in other provinces.

Reiter said he wants to see what difference the newly-hired donor physicians and nurses in Saskatoon make, before bringing in a system which could raise thorny legal issues.

Waiting for a lifeline

Approximately 60 Saskatchewan residents are waiting for a kidney transplant, while110 patients are waiting for cornea transplants, according to the Ministry of Health.

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It costs roughly $105,000 per year to keep a single patient on dialysis, according to physicians.

Officials do not track how many Saskatchewan patients are waiting for lung, liveror heart transplants, as those surgeries are performed in other provinces.

Reitersaid each of the three doctors will spend one day a week providing support for colleagues in hospitals, who may struggle to handle conversations with grieving families about organ donation.

'I know we can do better': donor physician

"There's a great desire for them to have support, to know how to have those conversations, to understand what resources are available," said Kawchuk, medical director for donation physicians.

"We will work to try and identify the solutions to the barriers in our province's health care system," she said. "I know we can do better."

She said she'd like to see the donor physician role become a full-time position, but said that would require more money.

This week, the province launches an advertising campaign showing real-life examples of organ donation and its impact on lives in Saskatchewan.

Talk with your family about organ donation: health minister

Potential donors are asked to put the red stickeron their Saskatchewan health card, sign the wallet-sized donor consent form, and tell their family about their wishes.

Unlike some other provinces, Saskatchewan has no organ or tissue donor registry.

"It would be beneficial for us in that we'd be able to actually know who's available, because one of the things now is we find out after the fact," said Scott Livingstone, the CEO of the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

But Reiterwarned establishing a registry might not have the intended effect.

"People tend to get the wrong impression again that if your name is on a registry that somehow automatically you're going to be a donor, but the same issues still apply," Reitertold reporters.

"It's still up to the family."