Mid-America Transplant Services Earns Missouri Quality Award-For Second Time

BY abovethefold | ST LOUIS TODAY

Innovation, Visionary Leadership Lead to Repeat of Prestigious State Quality Award — For the second time, Mid-America Transplant Services in St. Louis has earned the prestigious Missouri Quality Award. The award, modeled after the acclaimed Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, is given by the Excellence in Missouri Foundation for excellence in quality leadership.

The rigorous award evaluation process noted that MTS continues to have increasingly greater organizational results due to its strong focus on mission and its ability to foster innovation and employee commitment. As the regional organ procurement organization for eastern Missouri, southern Illinois, and northeast Arkansas, MTS has achieved record-breaking organ and tissue donations every year since 2006. In 2009, MTS celebrated the highest number of organ donations in the organization’s 35-year history.

“Our mission clearly states that we save lives through excellence in organ and tissue donation,” say Dean F. Kappel, MTS President and Chief Executive Officer. “Throughout our organization, and no matter at what level, we all recognize that we are intrinsically linked to our mission and the entire continuum of services from consent and grief support to the celebration of renewed life as a result of organ and tissue donation. It is our privilege to ensure that donor families have information, resources and support whenever they need them.

MTS’ “Blueprint for Excellence” is built upon a foundation of compassion, quality, integrity and teamwork. As cited by the Excellence in Missouri Foundation examiners, MTS’s key strengths include visionary leadership, the willingness to foster innovative changes, and a visible commitment to valuing its own employees as part of the organ and tissue donation process. MTS consistently has been recognized in independent surveys for having high job and benefits satisfaction among employees, as well as for creating 360-degree employee evaluation processes and multiple other programs that result in a culture whereby organ and tissue donors are recognized as true heroes.

“By listening first to our customers — donor families, our partners — hospitals and medical personnel, we continuously re-think the best ways to serve them,” says Kappel. “By also looking internally and seeing what our own employees need to do their jobs better, we build a committed and integrated team that truly focuses on our vision to have every person we approach say ‘yes’ to organ and tissue donation, every time. “It’s a privilege to work with the 105 employees of MTS and the receipt of the Missouri Quality Award for the second time is a testament to the hard work and passion they all exhibit as we strive to save lives through excellence in organ and tissue donation.”

About MTS

Mid-America Transplant Services (MTS) has served as the regional organ and tissue procurement organization for Missouri, southern Illinois, and northeastern Arkansas for more than 35 years. In addition to recovering organs and tissue for transplant, MTS provides comprehensive services to donor families, offers a wide variety of educational programs to schools, and partners with our community. With a mission to save lives through excellence in organ and tissue donation, MTS has been at the forefront of both recognizing the donor family as its customer and enhancing the quality of organs and tissue for transplant. The organization is a 2010 Missouri Quality Award Recipient. MTS is on the web at www.mts-stl.org.