NIT Hires First COO

((\
N a t i on a l
In stitu te
o f T r a n sp la n ta ti on
at the S.Mark T:rper Foundation Transplant Center
V ol .11,N o.1
Fiesta Broadway
Sponsors
GolfTourney
to BenefitNIT
National Institute of Transplanfhe
I
I tation is one of three charities chosen to benefit from the Inaugtral Fiesta
Broadway Charity Golf Tonrnament,
scheduled for Saturday,April 26, 2OO3,
at Donald Trump's Ocean Trails Golf
Club in Rancho PalosVerdes.
The tournament was conceived ancl
is being chaired by Frank Sanchez,a
member of the NIT Foundation board
of directors and a McDonald's licensee.
Luxury coach service at 8'.45 a.m.
will carry registered participants from
the Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles to the tournament site. Golfers
who choose to drive to the club independently will check in and enjoy a
welcome breakfastbeginning at 9A.M.
PGA professionals will conduct clinics
from 10-10:50A.M.
The tournament will begin with a
(C'onlin trccl ort p45qc.) )
Apr il20O l
NITHiresFirstCOO
HealthcareexecutiveJamesSchellenberg
has
been namedthe NIT'sfirst chief operatingofficer,
effectiveMarch 10.
r. Schellenberg sees his role as
"providing additional management structure to the NIT that will be
helpful in adding to its growth over the
next decade."
Mr. Schellenberg previously served
for three years as managing director of
Jeffersonwells International, a Midwestbased consulting firm that specializes
in internal audits and businessprocess
improvement in the health care, insurance, and financial services industries.
Mr. Schellenberg headed the Southern
California office.
Prior to that he was owner and president for almost ten years of Management SystemsConsultants,ahealth care
consulting firm with headquarters in
Glendale and offices elsewhere in California and inArizona.
The healthcareexecutive explained,
"My background in health care pro-
vides a good
nnderstandi ng of the
kind of orga*
nization NIT
Jdnrcs Scbellcrtbet,q, C'OO
is. There are
several components to the Institute,
and my task is to see that there is coordi nati on among each of t hem : increased donor awareness, patient and
public education, research, laboratory
testing, and data management. One
might add public relations and fundraising to the mix. These components
require some coordination and integration that will allow each department
and the entire Institute to grow.
"I believe my experience will allow
me to implement some intemal processes that allow people and organizations to measuretheir successagainsta
(Contintrccl ort page 4)
MiracleWorksFashionShow
April 25
he Miracle Works. . .A Chain of Hope, in conjunction with the National Institlrte
I ofTransplantation (NIT),will feature the Lourdes Chavez Collection at a fashion
show and shopping extravaganza to benefit NIT research, education, and patient
cafe programs.
The event, first of its kind to be sponsored by NIT's support group, will be held
Friday, Lpril25,at theJonathanTown Club in downtown LosAngeles,beginning with
a reception and boutique display at 11 a.m. Luncheon and the fashion show begin at
noon, with former newscaster GlendaVina serving as mistress of ceremonies.
The boutique display promises unique items not usually found in chain retail
stores. Lourdes Chavez and all participating vendors will be offering their clothing,
f
(Cotttirttted
ort page J)
, .Itttttultt'i4q
l/fu lbuz{l
(iiot't'z
Ct llcclntt
N r rN*"
EllenLiaoNamed
NurseAdministrator
E llenLiao,M.S .,R . N. h
, a sjo in e dt h e NI Ta s
nurseadministrator
aftersevenyearsof
activityin organtransplantation
administrative
of California
medicalcentersat
with University
UCLAandUClrvine.
Ellen Liero,M.5., I?.N.
Neut tt u rce ad nt i rt isttator
l\ /l ost recently she served as adminI V I istrative clirector for the clinical
research program in UCLA's kidney and
pancreas transplantation program.
At the NIT her responsibility will be
to oversee all nursing operations and
program development issues pertaining to the kidney transplant program.
"My role is to assist the NIT's five
transplant coordinators in managing
pre-transplant work-up activities and to
coordinate those activities with the two
transplant coordinators in terms of the
patient's hospitalization and with our
two post-transplant coordinators' management of post-operative patients.
"Specifically, I must work to assure
that our transplant team is well-coordinated to provide quality of care and
able to follow up with our physician
referral sources and with the personnel
at our satellite transplant clinics in
Bakersfield,Visalia,and SanLuis Obispo.
In Bakersfield and the other satellite
clinic areas,we have a total of six other
staff whom I must offer support to assure that consistent quality care is delivered."
'Another focus of my assignment,"
Ms. Liao said,"isto develop the most effective practice model here in the Los
Angeles office and to see that model
implemented in our satellite offices."
Ms. Liao has been involved with
transplant patients for almost 13 years,
beginning with her supervision of pediatric liver and kidney patients as clini
cal nurse specialist atTexas Children's
Hospital in Houston.
"It's especially rewarding," she says,
"to see patients regain an enofmolls
degree of quality of life after a trans-
plant procedure. I've also been involved in clinical research related to
transplant medicine, and I know how
very much and how dramatically the
advances in technology and new combinations of antirejection drugs help
improve the outcome of the transplanted organ.
Confined to Dialysis
"In kidney transplantation, most
people diagnosed with end-stage renal
disease are very much confined to the
regimen of dialysis,usually three times a
week. \When they come into ollr transplant center upon initial referral, an initial evaluation is made, and when that is
completed,they are added to the United
Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) national waiting list. It then becomes the
transplant center's responsibility to
make sure that these patients are expedited in an effective and safe manner
through the transplant process."
Ms.Liao added: "The large and growing numbers of end-stage renal disease
patients, coupled with each transplant
center's increasingly limited resollrces
and the current average wait of about
five to seven yeafs for a donor ofgana wait time that is growing longermakes it an absolute necessity that each
transplant center operate much more
efficiently. At the NIT I must help see
to that.
"With the post-transplant nLlrses,my
role is to see that they are able to provide timely assessmentto detect the
onset of complications after transplant.
'We do that through patient education,
teaching them about their medications,
activities of daily living, and by close
monitoring. The ability to detect signs
and symptoms such as infection, high
blood pressure,andhigh blood sugarlevels is essentiallya self-careskill that must
be acquired after transplantation."
At the NIT, Ms. Liao said, great emphasis is concentrated on teaching the
patient to keep the transplant center
informed of his orher condition during
the waiting period. (NIT personnel also
use the transplant data base to make
sure that each waiting patient gets follow-up on his or her status routinely
while on the wait list.)
Beyond nursing supervision and its
related activities, there is a business
component to Ms.Liao'swork."How do
we ensure the qualify of our referral
relationships, and our ability to be able
to remain viable in a competitive market? Currently there are several competing centers in Los Angeles, and my
training and skills will definitely help
me look at the demographics that determine our niche in the marketplace.
"It is well known, for example, that
the NIT is much more aggressivein using extended donors. As the result of
their philosophical vision of utility
many years ago, ouf sufgeons afe now
able to transplant organs that are typically not ideal for transplantation into
higher-risk patients who are older and
who might have a history of hepatitis
or higher cardiovascular risk, but would
still benefit from an organ rather than
remaining on dialysis for many years.
NIT has a proven track record. I wonld
like to help us build on oLlr expertise
and continue our efforts in our live donor programs as well."
Soon in the Field
Ms.Liaowill soon be in the field,talking with heads of several dialysis units
and targeting those with which the NIT
has a strong relationship to inventofy
perceptions of the NIT's strengths and
areas that can be improved.
"The first step is to do a ftill assessment of our current referral relationships, to look at our market share and
what has made NIT strong and kept it
growing for the past twenty-some years,
and to develop a strategy that enables
us to build on past sllccesses.
"As to oLlf clufent competitive position, I believe that any plrysician contemplating referral of a patient in need
N r . rN*,
of l<tdney/ pancreastransplantation will
find that we have a distinguished surgical faculty and well-qualified nursing
staff to compliment our experienced
multidisciplinary team. Althotrgh we're
a large transplant centef, we continue
to provide personal contact and individualized care for each referred patient. We offer a variety of clinical research that will help provide the most
progressive anti-rejection combination
medication once the patient receives
his or her transplant here."
Ellen Liao earned her bachelor of
science degree in nursing from the
University of Texas at Austin and her
master's degree in nursing as a clinical
nurse specialist from Texas Woman's
University in Houston. In May she will
receive her master's in business administration in the executive program from
Chapman University in Orange.
A single parent of a young child, Ms.
Liao lives in West Los Angeles. She is
partial to gardening, and specifically
enjoys working with native Southern
California plants. 1-
MiracleWorks
(Corttintrccl front pagc 1)
accessories, and jewelry at wholesale
prices plus 20 percent, and the 2O percent will be contributed to the NIT.
Offering their distinctive items are
Bain, Renate Designs, Lavender Blue,
Eckert Zeiss,Ice Cubes,TizianaCollections, Daniel Vachtenheim Furs, and
Vartan's Fine Jewelry Company.
Diamond sponsorships, suppofting
premier seatingfor 10, are $5,000;Sapphire sponsorships offer premier seating for 10,at $2500;and Pead sponsorships, preferred seating for L0, are
$1500. All sponsorships include acknowledgment at the event and in the
next NIT Neusletter.
Individual preferred seats are $250,
and generalseatingis $125 perperson.
Co-chairpersons of the event are
Sonia Randazzo and Sharyl Mendez.
Karen Gallio is president of Miracle
Works. ..A Chain of Hope.
Forinformation on the fashion show
or The Miracle Vorks. . .A Chain of
Hope, telephone Nicole Pinkerton at
(213) 413-2779.+
Multi-Organ
Transplant
Symposium
Pasadena,
April19
at Ritz-Garlton,
ommunity surgeons and physicians will participate in the joint St.Vincent Medi!/ cal Center/National Institute ofTransplantation's annual Multi-OrganTransplantation Symposium, "EvoMng Clinical Strategies,"to be held from 8 L.M.-z PM. on
Saturday,April 19,at the Ritz-Cadton, Huntington Hotel in Pasadena.
There is no fee for the program, but space is limited and there is an April 15
deadline for registration. Information is available at (213) 484-7019.
The NIT's co-founder, Robert Mendez, M.D., will present the keynote address,
"Issues inTransplantationToday,"prior to the day's three successivepanels. The first,
on kidney and pancreas transplantation, will have Rafael G. Mendez, M.D., speaking
on laparoscopic donor nephrectomy, followed by Visiting Professor David E.R.
Sutherland, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the division of transplantation at the University of
Minnesota and president of The Transplantation Society,who will discuss beta cell
replacement therapy in the treatment of diabetes mellitus.
Ali Gheissari, M.D., St.Vincent director of cardiac transplantation will moderate
the heart transplantation segment, which features Bartley P Griffith, M.D., chief of
the division of cardiac surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.Dr.
Griffith will describe the current status of total artificial heart and left ventricular
devices as destination therapy.
Lunch will precede a lecture byvisiting ProfessorJorge D. Reyes,M.D., director of
pediatric transplantation at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and theThomas E.
Starzl Transplantation Institute. His subject: "Pediatric Transplantation: Are These
Children Really SmallAdults?"Hector C. Ramos,M.D.,liver transplant surgeon at St.
Vincent, will serve as moderator.
Each lecture will be followed by discussion and a question-and-answer session.
The symposium offers up to four hours of category I continuing medical education credit through St.Vincent Medical Center, a CMA accredited provider.
Complimentary valet parking will be available. .f
/^\
t'
GOlf
(cctntinuedf,ornpase I)
shotgtm start, Texas scramble format,
precisely at 1l A.M. A box lunch will
be provided on the course to all participants. Prizes will be offered to men and
women for longest drive,50-yard putt,
and hole-in-one.
A cocktail reception and awards presentation will begin at 4:3O, and participants requiring transportation back
to the Omni Hotel downtownwill leave
on the coach at 6:30.
Sponsorships are available at several
levels: A $25,000 Gold Sponsorship
provides three foursomes (12 players)
with transportation, breakfast, green
fees, golf carts, lunch, gift bags, and admission to the cocktail reception and
awards ceremony as well as complimentary tfansportation for guests to
the reception.
A $10,000 Silver Sponsorship provides the same benefits for two four-
somes (eight players) and eight guests
to the reception.
Bronze Sponsorships,at $5,000 provide the same benefit package to one
foursome and four guests to the reception.
Proceeds from the golf tournament
will also benefit Ronald McDonald
House Charities and the Los Angeles
Scholarship Program for Inner City Edtrcation.
The tournament is part of the annual
Fiesta Broadway Cinco de Mayo celebrati on, w hi ch an nually br ings
500,000 people to a 3O-block area of
downtown LosAngeles for a full day of
entertainment, food, and exhibits. This
year's fiesta will be held on the day aftef the tournament. +-
N 'rN*"
Schellenberg
(Cottl inued.ft'om page 1.)
standard and will set the stage for NIT
to exceed that standard."
Mr. Schellenberg indicated that the
reputations of Drs. Robert and Ralph
Mendez, founders of the NIT, were the
great draw that brought him to the Institute."I wouldn't be here if it weren't for
those two incredibly talented,well-liked,
sincere and highly respected surgeons."
Among the challenges facing Mr.
Schellenberg as he begins his work is
increasing the number of donors to the
transplantation pool.
.I think that's going to be a huge issue,but I am not convinced that the current population of cadaveric donors is a
fixed number. It can be increased by
public education.The more people you
educate, and the more taboos you can
eliminate with regard to people's perceptions of what happens to the body
after they die, the greater the number of
future donors we can anticipate.
"I have a particlllar interest in this
field because my brother had a rare
liver condition and waited five years for
a new organ,through a number of critical episodes and hospitalizations. He
eventually received his transplant at the
Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, and
now is healthy as one can be. I have a
large family, with five brothers and five
sisters.The experience with my older
brotlrer energ ized all of us , and we have
all signed donor cards. An additional
150 or 200 people we know have
signed donor cards too,iLlst becauseof
our transfer of the knowledge we
gained to them."
Religious and other cultural beliefs
have traditionally kept some populations from agreeing to live or cadaveric
organ donation. Mr. Schellenberg believes that such reservations can be
overcome .
"I think that with increased awareness of the great life-giving wonder of
organ transplantation, our many cultural and ethnic communities will
come around.With more public education and NIT programs,some traditional
convictions can be looked at again,and
people brought to say,"Why do we
think like that?" I do think there's a
good opportunity there.After things are
explained, education provided, and
people from all cultures ftllly comprehend that the diminished life of their
sick loved one can be better, that they
as donors can help restore a life,we will
see an increase in the donor pool. It
may not happen tomoffow or the next
day,but if we do our job now, the next
generation will have an entirely different view toward organ transplantation.
The barriers will come down. I hope to
help bring that about."
RaisednearJacksonville,Florida,Mr.
Schellenbergearned his bachelor's degr€e at Vanderbilt University in Nashville and his MBA from the University
of Florida at Gainesville.He has been
married for 23 years and has a daughter
at USC and a son in high school. The
family resides in Pacific Palisades.Mr.
Schellenberg enjoys watching his son
become an accomplished athlete and
hanging oLlt with the family at the
beach. q:
National Institute of Transplantation
S. Mark Taper Foundation
Transplant
2200WThird Street,Suite 100
LosAngeles,CA9OO57
RETURN
SERVICE
REqUESTED
Center
NIT NEWSLETTER
O National Institute of TransDlantation
The NIT Newsletter
is published
by the National Institute
health professionals
semi-annually
ofTransplantation
for
and friends. Contenl
be reproduce<I only with
editor. Inquiries
Institute
permission
may
of the
should be sent to the National
of Transplantation
at: S. Mark Taper
Foundation Transplant Centcr, 2200 W Third
Strect, Suite I (X), Los Angeles, CA 90057.
Telephone: 213-473-277 9.
Exccutive Dircctor
Robcrt Mendcz. M.D.. EA.C.S.
C o- Ex ec uti v e l ) i r c c tor .............
Rafael G. Mendez. M.D.. EA.C.S.
E di tor ...........................
.........Sa l i A s w a d , M. D .
ContributingEditor...... ...........G o rd o n C o h n ,
Nicole Pinkerton
Direct0r of Publications .......... E i l e c n D e n n e rt
P hotography.................
............C ri i g C a l h o u n
Graphic Design ...............Graphic Systems West
I'r i nti n9 ...............,........
Eur ek a Lit h o g ra p h , I n c .
NITWebsite:
www.transplantation.com
[email protected]
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
LosAngeles, CA
Pefmit No.2526