Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA) welcomes four new members to its Board of Directors. KODA is one of the 58 organ procurement organizations in the U.S. working to save lives through organ donation and enhance lives through tissue donation. The Board of Directors is KODA’s governing body and meets periodically to discuss and vote on KODA affairs.
Julie Bergin, BSN, MHA, KODA’s president and CEO, said three of the new Board members — Denisha Henry, Eduardo Pino, M.D., Mike Lutz – have already started their 3-year terms, while Robert “Bo” Cofield Jr. will join in September. The current board chair is Hoyt Burdick, M.D., FACHE, who serves as Chief Medical Officer at Cabell Huntington Hospital in Huntington, W.Va.
Bergin said the Board of Directors is essential to KODA’s continued success with its mission. “We truly appreciate the input of our Board members and value the wisdom they can contribute from their various perspectives in business and in the community. We are very fortunate that these leaders have committed to assisting KODA in honoring the gift of donation throughout our service area.”
Originally from Louisville, Denisha Henry works as a Clinical Research Coordinator with Associates in Neurology PSC in Lexington, Ky. She is also a donor mom. She first became associated with KODA after her daughter T’Neil Martin died in 2010 and was able to save lives as an organ donor. She has been an active volunteer, served on KODA’s Donor Fam
ily Council and will become a member of the Board’s Quality Committee.
“I am excited to serve on KODA’s Board and make a difference in a new way,” Henry said. “I am honored to do this in memory of my daughter T’Neil and to make my service on the Board a part of her legacy.”
Dr. Pino has served many roles at Cabell Huntington Hospital, including being the long-time chair of the Donation Committee. He currently serves as Medical Director of Hoops Family Children’s Hospital. Also, the Team for West Virginia Children recently honored him with its Service to Children Award. He will serve on the Board’s Quality Committee, lending insight into the care of pediatric organ and tissue donors and their families.
“I am honored to be asked to serve with an organization that has such a noble purpose,” said Dr. Pino. “I hope that I can work to fulfill its mission and thereby help so many others.”
Mike Lutz is the Human Resources General Manager at Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Lexington. Lutz, who will serve on the Strategic Planning Committee, is a transplant recipient and is grateful for his own second chance.
“I am very humbled by the opportunity to support and serve on KODA’s Board,” he said. “I want to help others learn more about the life-saving experience I have been through. I can help others to understand the gifts that occur because of generous donors and their families.”
Robert “Bo” Cofield is the Vice President and Chief Clinical Operations Manager at UK HealthCare in Lexington. He will fill one of the two seats on the Board held by the UK Healthcare Transplant Center. Cofield will begin his term in September and will initially serve on the Finance Committee.
“I think serving on the KODA Board will be an important opportunity to serve the community,” he said. “Since my organization is a health care provider, I hope to help translate some of the great successes we’ve had to help other providers.”
KODA is based in Louisville and has offices in Lexington, Paducah, Bowling Green, Owensboro and Pikeville, Ky, and in Huntington, W.Va. KODA’s service area includes most of Kentucky, 2 counties in West Virginia, 1 county in Ohio and 4 counties in Indiana.
Dr. Bruce A. Lucas and Dr. R. Neal Garrison were the principal founders of KODA on March 3, 1987. Over the past 30 years, KODA has been recognized with several awards, including the Best Nonprofit in the Louisville region in 2011. Membership of the Board for many years was comprised primarily of the professionals involved in organ transplantation: the surgeons who performed transplants, other physicians providers and hospital administrators. They were professional, pioneering and passionate about their work.
Over time, with the growth of transplantation and the need for the broader community to become part of the solution for the limited supply of life-saving gifts, Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) like KODA have become more of an embodiment of the entire community. Patients that had received organ transplants, families of individuals who had donated organs, living organ donors and people simply inspired by the cause began to add to the community of stakeholders taking seats on Boards of Directors of OPOs.
KODA Board Members embrace the mission of organ, tissue, and cornea donation and work to make major differences in the lives of others. They serve three year terms and can be re-elected by their peers. They also serve on at least one subcommittee annually.
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About Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates
Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA) is dedicated to saving lives through organ and tissue donation and transplantation. KODA was formed in 1987, pulling together two hospital-based organ procurement groups, to establish a statewide educational and procurement network. KODA is an independent, non-profit organ and tissue procurement agency and was recognized by Louisville Business First as the Nonprofit of the Year in 2011. KODA currently serves 114 counties in Kentucky, 4 counties in southern Indiana and 2 counties in western West Virginia. KODA partners with the Kentucky Circuit Court Clerks’ Trust for Life in all public education & philanthropy efforts. For more information, visit http://www.kyorgandonor.org.