What We Do

Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN) is committed to creating a culture that enables every Ontarian to make an informed decision about organ and tissue donation and to support healthcare professionals in implementing those decisions. It is the responsibility of Trillium Gift of Life Network to be the provincial resource for the planning, promotion, coordination and management of the organ and tissue donation system in Ontario, and to ensure the system is equitable, efficient, safe and effective.

Clinical Operations

Clinical Operations has a crucial role to play in assisting Trillium Gift of Life Network to be an effective leader in the management of the provincial organ and tissue donation system:

• Development of hospital programs is currently active across the province in hospitals with critical care units to secure organ/tissue donation as a routine part of end-of-life care, implement organ and tissue donation best practices and continuously drive performance improvement to maximize organ and tissue donations for the purposes of transplantation.
• Organ and Tissue Donation Coordinators are based out of 21 hospitals to support hospital donation practices and support donor families with the donation process.
• TGLN's Provincial Resource Centre (PRC), staffed 24/7 by a team of Clinical Services Coordinators is responsible for intake of organ and tissue donation referrals, and facilitates donation, including recovery of organs and tissue for donation. The PRC supports health care professionals; obtains consent for donation; facilitates donor testing and screening; coordinates essential logistics; and by telephone, offers organs and tissues to transplant programs and tissue banks respectively. The PRC is also responsible for looking up potential donors' registered consent decision on the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care's database.
• TGLN's professional education program provides tools and resources to support best practice in organ and tissue donation by both TGLN staff and external health care professionals.

Donor Family Services

• The Donor Family Support program offers donor families the option of continued support, the opportunity to communicate anonymously with the recipients of their gifts, and recognition for their courage and generosity. This relationship between Trillium Gift of Life Network staff and donor families begins when consent is granted and continues for up to 12 months with personal support, the provision of information materials, donor recognition events and other support measures.

Information Technology

Organ and tissue donation and transplantation is a fast-paced, logistically challenging and information-intensive segment of our health care system. Getting the right information to the right person at the right time is imperative to successful outcomes.

The Information Systems (IS) group supports the effective and efficient operations of the organization; and the department maintains the TOTAL Information System. The TOTAL system helps TGLN to manage organ and tissue donation cases from referral to transplantation. TOTAL increases efficiency, reduces risk and enhances the safety of the organ and tissue donation system. The system also includes data on living donations and tissue donations.

Community Support

TGLN's communications and public awareness efforts are focused on a single call to action: to encourage the public to register their consent to donate organs and tissue to save and enhance the lives of Ontarians waiting for transplantation.

Our Community Support programs are designed to enhance the wide-ranging activities of volunteers and organizations across the province to build awareness of the need to register as an organ and tissue donor. We work in concert with stakeholders - government, donor families, volunteers, health care professionals, faith leaders, youth and non-governmental organizations, and supportive private sector companies - in a multi-faceted way. (see Community Relations)