Gift of Life Michigan expands services in the U.P

up_team_1

New facility allows for increased bone, tissue donors in northern Michigan

Marquette, MI – A new facility in Marquette will help Gift of Life Michigan bring hope and healing to more Michigan residents.The Gift of Life Michigan team n Marquette performed its first recovery at Marquette General Hospital recently.

The facility in Marquette will allow Gift of Life to better coordinate tissue donation cases with health care systems in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, offering residents a greater chance to help others through donation.

“We were under-serving the area,” said Ryan Cormier, director of Tissue Services at Gift of Life Michigan. “This not only helps us be more efficient, it allows up to help serve the entire upper peninsula.”

Gift of Life Michigan is the federally designated organ and tissue recovery program that provides all services necessary for organ and tissue donation to occur in Michigan. Based in Ann Arbor, Gift of Life recovers more than 1,000 organs every year for transplantation from 300 or more donors, saving hundreds of lives. Bone, skin and other tissue are also recovered, helping to significantly improve the lives of thousands of seriously injured and sick recipients.

Previously, those services had been limited in the upper peninsula, however. Potential donors had to fall into specific categories: they had to be between 13 and 60 years of age and eligible to be bone donors. Even then, time was a factor. Donors had to be transported to the surgical center in Ann Arbor for recovery to take place – a time-consuming process when effective tissue recoveries must take place within 24 hours of death.

“Any time saved is very important,” said Shannon Renaud, tissue manager at Gift of Life Michigan. “This will allow us to offer the gift of donation to more families and help us heal more people.”

The team observes a moment of silence prior to recovering tissue from a donor. Upper peninsula recoveries will now take place at UP Health System — Marguette or the original donor hospital, rather than Ann Arbor. Establishing a Marquette-based team and office eliminates the age requirement and the necessity for potential tissue donors to be eligible for bone donation, too, meaning all UP residents will be eligible. Donated bone and tissue can help patients in a variety of ways, including recovering from burns, sports injuries, mastectomies, traffic accidents and more.

“I am so pleased that we have this team in place and we will now be able to facilitate more donations in the upper peninsula,” said Dorrie Dils, CEO of Gift of Life Michigan. “We consider all of our donors and their families to be heroes and we are glad we can offer the gift of life and healing to more people.”

To sign up to be an organ, eye or tissue donor, visit golm.org.

Read More Posts

The family of Mitch Potter says their goodbyes at the hospital before he is moved to Gift of Life Michigan to give his final gifts.

Behind the Scenes of “The Final Gift”: CBS News Spotlights Gift of Life Michigan’s Lifesaving Work

Gift of Life Michigan welcomed CBS News inside its Ann Arbor facility last summer, giving…

Read More

Dior Chambers is waiting for that life-saving gift

Dior Chambers is no stranger to kidney disease. It has touched every corner of her…

Read More

Michigan Senate recognizes April as Donate Life Month, introduces new bills focused on organ, eye and tissue donation education

Today, the Michigan Senate adopted Sen. Kevin Daley’s (R-Lum) resolution to recognize April 2025 as…

Read More

“I’m so thankful I’m here and for the gift of life”

Brett Bowman, from Woodhaven, Mich., was born with cystic fibrosis. Growing up he was in…

Read More

Erik

Erik’s selfless decision to donate inspired his daughter Erika to honor his memory through advocacy

Read More

Greg

Through the pain of losing her husband Greg, Shalonda found purpose in raising awareness for…

Read More
Scroll to Top