Services

Organ and Tissue Recovery

Organ donation is a field that combines the best of high tech and high touch. And it’s possible because someone like you said yes to sharing life after they’re gone.  

DNA is the only organ procurement organization in Arizona.  

Organ and tissue recovery can only happen after: 

• All lifesaving efforts have been made   

• The patient’s death has been declared by doctors separate from any part of the donation and transplantation process  

• Authorization has been given—either by the donor or their family 

Organ recovery is often done with the support of the organ transplant surgeon of the patient who matched with the donated organ.  

The gift is in the offering …

With a generous heart, Rene Mills Sr.’s family wasn’t surprised to find he had previously registered as a donor. In fact, he had talked with his daughter about donation prior to his passing.

“As a family we grieve, but we know that it has brought a beautiful light to another family,” donor wife, Denise Mills, says, adding that Rene loved to help others at any chance.

Tissue Donation

Organ donation often gets the spotlight, but tissue donation saves and heals lives too. DNA is accredited by the Association for Advancing Tissue Biologics. Before donated tissues get to the right recipients, they must go through some preparations.  

Steps: 

1. DNA recovers donated tissues from donors—with care and precision. 
2. Our team then sends the recovered tissue to what’s called a tissue processor where they: 
   1. Test for safety and quality  
   2. Prep it to make it ready for transplant  
   3. Store it until it’s time to send it to the right recipient  
3. The donated tissues then go to transplant surgeons for procedures, such as: 
   1. Orthopedic surgeries  
   2. Burn treatments  
   3. Heart valve replacements  
   4. Cornea transplants  
   5. Much more  

Don’t ask why—ask why not?

Barbara Grout remembers her husband, Stephen “Steve” Grout, as quiet, caring and funny —a master chess player and lifelong teacher whose greatest joy was giving to others. Now, Steve’s legacy lives on. He lives on through the lives he has healed by his donated tissue.

“You can help others with a gift of life,” she says. “Don’t ask why—ask why not?”

Matching the Organs

One service that DNA offers organ transplant centers is compatibility testing between donors and potential recipients. That’s done in DNA’s human leukocyte antigen (HLA) laboratory. That’s a wordy name for matching organs with recipients.

It’s a state-of-the-art laboratory housed at DNA’s main office location in Tempe. The HLA team supports organ matching through special testing to determine how likely the body of a potential recipient would reject a given donated organ.

Donor Family Engagement

Once organ and tissue donation takes place, there’s a whole team of people dedicated specifically to ongoing care and support of the families of donors.  

The voluntary aftercare program lasts for up to two years. Caring for donor families is a pillar of DNA’s services. We offer support, guidance, letters and invitations to participate in special events and projects to honor their donor here, like the: 

• DNA’s Recipes of Remembrance cookbook

• Quilt-pinning events 

• Our annual Donate Life Day at the Arizona Diamondbacks  

• Opportunities to share their loved one’s story 

Our team also supports donor families in writing letters to any recipients, if they want. You can learn more about that here:

DonateLifeAZ Registry

DNA runs the state’s organ and tissue donor registry at no cost to the state. It’s set up in a way to make it easy for Arizonans to register as organ and tissue donors either at ADOT MVD, at in-person events, or online at DonateLifeAZ.org.