Making the Most of Our Collaboration

Pictured above: Tim Brown, president and CEO of DNA, welcomes funeral home partners for the annual meeting at the new DNA office in Tempe Sept. 27, 2022. 

Donor Network of Arizona (DNA) works in the realm of deceased organ, eye and tissue donation—with the addition of living donation through the placenta donation program, which comes after a planned C-section. A large element of making the gift of life possible is the support of funeral homes and their teams. Recently, DNA hosted the annual Service Corporation International (SCI) Market Managers Meeting Sept. 27, 2022, at the main office in Tempe.

“We believe educating funeral home partners on the work we do, such as our ocular recovery program where we use a donor’s incredible gift and technology to provide the gift of sight, really shows the impact on donors, their families and potential recipients,” says Jim Simpson, director of the Referral and Donor Screening Services (RDSS) department at DNA, the hub of the organization as the RDSS team screens death referrals for donation potential from all hospitals across the state. Our organization fielded more than 45,000 death referrals in 2021 alone.

Hal Wilmot, SCI’s Phoenix market director, and Tim Brown, DNA president and CEO, welcomed 74 attendees, including the senior managing director of SCI Major West Markets and leadership team members from Houston. There were 60 location managers, general managers, sales managers, Phoenix Personal Care Center leadership and support staff engaged in educational topics ranging from human resources, operations, legal, business ethics and conduct, and employee development and pre-need sales.

The learning was a two-way street. SCI also hosted a lunch-and-learn for DNA staff about continued collaboration and improving the experience for grieving families, particularly when their loved one chose to offer the gift of life.

Remember, each organ, eye and tissue donor has the potential to save eight lives, restore vision for two, and heal up to 75 more, respectively. Donor families often share that they find peace in knowing the passing of someone they loved helped others.

DNA looks forward to building and maintaining relationships and to welcoming funeral home professionals to the (relatively) new home again in the future to take this lifesaving connection to an even deeper collaboration. For more information, visit the Professional Partners | Funeral Directors page on our website, DNAZ.org