New York Organ Donor Network Names Aaron Spital, M.D. as Medical Director in a Concerted Effort to Increase Organ and Tissue Donation - October 7, 2003
The board of directors and medical board of the New York Organ Donor Network announced today the appointment of Aaron Spital, M.D., 52, as Medical Director of the organ procurement organization that serves the Greater New York metropolitan area. The appointment becomes effective January 1, 2004. Dr. Spital is a nephrologist and is currently Professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in Rochester, New York.
“The newly-created full-time position of Medical Director is pivotal in moving our organization forward to increase organ and tissue donation in our region,” said Rocco Andriola, Esq., current vice-chairman and incoming chairman of the Donor Network board, and a Managing Director at Lehman Brothers, Inc. in Manhattan. “It is essential that we develop and implement creative initiatives to improve donation rates because the lives of almost 7,000 people waiting for organ transplants in the Greater New York metropolitan area depend upon it. It is our hope that with his vast experience, Dr. Spital will help us to accomplish this important mission.”
In his new capacity, Dr. Spital will oversee all medical aspects of donation for transplantation, including medical assessment and management of donors, streamlining policies and systems in recovery and allocation of organs and tissues, and supporting the clinical work done by the Donor Network’s transplant coordinators. He will also serve as a key interface with medical staffs in the 110 hospitals which interact with the Donor Network on a daily basis.
Dr. Spital graduated from the City College of the City University of New York in 1972, attended the Medical College of Wisconsin, and completed graduate medical training at Stamford Hospital/New York Medical College, Baystate Medical Center/Tufts University, and Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University.
Many of Dr. Spital’s publications and presentations address the shortage of donors and ethical issues surrounding both living donation and donation after death.
New York Organ Donor Network: Founded in 1978, and celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year, the New York Organ Donor Network is the second largest of the nation’s nonprofit, federally designated organ procurement organizations (OPOs). It is responsible for the recovery of organs and tissues for transplantation, and public and professional education efforts for a culturally and ethnically diverse population of 13 million in the Greater New York metropolitan area. The Donor Network serves Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn the Bronx, Staten Island, Long Island, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester, and also Pike County, PA. It works closely with nine transplant centers and 110 hospitals in the New York metropolitan area.
For more information, contact Martin Woolf, 212-870-3960 or mwoolf@nyodn.org
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