Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District

Issues

Health

Organ Donor Legislation Becomes Law

5 April 2004

Today President Bush signed into law the Organ Donation and Recovery Improvement Act (H.R. 3926), which includes language first authored by U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (WA-01) to provide funding for organ donor coordinators in 2000. The bill passed the House of Representative by a vote of 414 to 2 on March 24, 2004.

Said Inslee, “With the passage of this bill today, we will expedite the abilities of Americans to give the gift of life. Thousands of Americans are waiting for transplants, and one person on the organ waiting list dies every two hours. Waiting lists have increased by 350% over the last decade, and the need for organs for donation is growing almost twice as fast as the supply. By creating the position of organ donor coordinators, we can increase organ donation rates in this country, because it allows families the confidence, the knowledge and the coordination with doctors and nursing staff to make this decision. Ultimately, this bill will significantly increase the number of people who get a new lease on life because of a donated organ.”

Inslee has been working for legislation to increase the number of organ donations for several years. Inslee’s language, which is included in this bill, will provide grants for hospitals and organ procurement organizations to hire organ donor coordinators. Organ donor coordinators work in hospitals to help patients and their families understand what is involved in an organ donation, facilitate the transportation of donated organs, and increase community awareness of the need for organ donations, thereby increasing the number of organs donated. Hospitals with organ donor coordinators have vastly increased consent rates to organ donation as compared with hospitals that do not have organ donor coordinators.