To: Region 2 Members
From: David Reich, MD, FACS
Region 2 Councillor
Subject: Spring Region 2 Meeting Materials and fall meeting date
Date: February 15, 2017
You are reminded that the spring Region 2 meeting will be held on Friday, March 17th, from10:15 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.,at the Hilton Crystal City Washington Reagan National Airport, 2399 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Arlington, VA. Please make arrangements to attend the entire meeting. A continental breakfast and buffet lunch will be provided at the meeting.
We have reserved a block of rooms for attendees at the Hilton. Make your reservations by Monday, February 20, 2017 to secure the group rate of $229.00 single/double. You may make hotel reservations online (CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR ROOM)or by calling 703-418-6800. Reference group name United Network for Organ Sharing and group code UNO to get the group rate. The hotel will honor the group rate 3 days before and 3 days after the meeting.
The liver program directors will meet prior to the regional meeting from 9:00-10:00 a.m.
The meeting agenda, presentations, and materials are posted to the Transplant Pro website:
In addition to regional business, we will vote on four public comment proposals, one concept paper and two guidance documents distributed for public comment on January 23rd. Two of the proposals are on the non-discussion agenda. During the meeting, each proposal on the non-discussion agenda will be voted upon, but will not be presented or discussed.
The Ethics Committee’s White Paper Addressing Financial Incentives for Organ Donation has been suspended from additional public comment. On February 8, based on feedback from membership, the Committee determined to suspend the project as it assesses potential edits. The Committee does intend to reissue a revised paper for public comment at a later date. However, comments will not be accepted for this proposal for the remainder of spring 2017 public comment.
The proposals can be viewed intheir entirety on the OPTN website the “Governance” menu.
We are still accepting topics/presenters for the regional discussion session at the upcoming regional meeting. This is a chance for you to share your ideas, best practices, successes at your organization, a problem you need help solving, a topic you want to lead the region in discussing – the possibilities are endless! We would like to have three 20 minute discussions. This will allow for a brief presentation or framing of the topic, and time for discussion. We plan to have these presenters discuss the topics prior to the committee updates, toward the beginning of the regional meeting.
These sessions have been a hit in the regions who have already met this cycle. Topics presented in other regions include: Living Donation, Heroin deaths on the rise, OPO Dashboards and System optimization.
The fall regional meeting is scheduled for Friday, September 8, 2017, from 10:15 a.m-3:00 p.m. This meeting will be held in Baltimore, MD. A notice will be sent at a later date with a confirmed venue. This date falls within the timeframe for responding to policy and bylaw proposals distributed for public comment.
I look forward to seeing you in Arlington.
To:Region 2 Members
From: David Reich, MD, FACS
Region 2 Councillor
Subject:Region 2 meeting information and agenda
Date: January 16, 2017
Happy New Year!
General Meeting Information
The Region 2 meeting will be held on Friday, March 17th, from10:15 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.,in the Washington metropolitan area.Hotel information will be sent as soon as it is available. Please make arrangements to attend the entire meeting. A continental breakfast and buffet lunch will be provided at the meeting.
The liver program directors will meet prior to the regional meeting from 9:00-10:00 a.m.
Beginning January 23, four public comment proposals, one concept paper, two guidance documents, and one white paper will be available for your review on the OPTN website ( under the “governance” tab.Members are encouraged to submit feedback on the proposals on the OPTN website at the following link:
During the regional meeting, the official OPTN/UNOS Representative or Alternate may vote on behalf of an institution, or an individual may be designated a proxy. Letters designating a proxy can be emailed to Betsy Gans () or submitted at the meeting registration table.
Regional Business Meeting
New! Regional discussion opportunity
This is a chance for you to share your ideas, best practices, successes at your organization, a problem you need help solving, a topic you want to lead the region in discussing – the possibilities are endless! We would like to have three to four 15 minute discussions. This will allow for a brief presentation or framing of the topic, and time for discussion. We may adjust the discussion times depending upon interest; we will select topics that are applicable to most of the members who attend.
Please send your suggestions with a presenter name to our Regional Administrator, Betsy Gans, by March 3rd. Betsy will follow-up with you before the regional meeting to let you know if your topic was selected.
A draft meeting agenda is posted on the Transplant Pro website at the following link: The spring regional meeting agenda has two sections: discussion and non-discussion.
Discussion Section
Proposals on the discussion section of the agenda will be presented by the regional representatives to OPTN/UNOS committees, discussed, and voted upon at the regional meeting.
Non-discussion (ND) Section
The non-discussion (ND) agenda was developed to remove proposals that are smaller in scope from the main meeting agenda, to allow more time for presentation and discussion of proposals that affect many members of the transplant community and/or are controversial. During the regional meeting, each proposal on the non-discussion agenda will be voted upon, but will not be presented and discussion will not be permitted.
To request that a proposal on the non-discussion agenda be discussed, 7 member institutions (15%) need to request removal. Submit this request to Betsy Gans at or 804-782-4814 by March 10, 2017.
Webinars to Review Public Comment Proposals
Non-discussion webinars
Two national webinars will be held to provide members an opportunity to learn about the proposals on the non-discussion agenda and ask questions of the presenters.Since the information presented at each webinar will be identical, you onlyneed to attend one. I encourage you to attend a webinar before our regional meeting.
The non-discussion webinars will be held on the following dates and times:
Tuesday, January 24, 2:00-3:00 pm ET
Monday, February 27, 2:00-3:00 pm ET
Please register for one of the non-discussion sessions using the following link:
Discussion webinars – New!
During this public comment cycle, Regional Administration will pilot webinars to review the proposals on the discussion agenda. The purpose of these webinars is to provide members, especially those who do not normally attend their regional meeting, an opportunity to learn about the proposals on the discussion agenda. Attendees will be permitted to ask questions during the webinars, but the regional meeting will still be the formal avenue for regional discussion and voting.
Public comment proposals on the discussion agenda will be presented during two separate webinars. Unlike the non-discussion webinars, the content of each of these webinars is different. Please review the list of proposals to be presented during each webinar:
The discussion webinars will be held on the following dates and times:
Tuesday, January 31, 2:00-3:00 pm ET
oProposals Presented:
Infectious Disease Verification Process to Enhance Patient Safety
Improving Allocation of En Bloc Kidneys
Concept Paper: Improving Allocation of Double Kidneys
oRegistration Link:
Wednesday, February 1, 2:00-3:00 pm ET
oProposals Presented:
National Liver Review Board: Policy and Exception Score Assignments
National Liver Review Board: Guidance Documents
oRegistration Link:
Important: Once registered, you will receive a confirmation email with the webinar and teleconference information for the meeting. Please note that the link you receive is valid for ONE entry into the webinar.
Participants are required to dial into the webinar for the audio portion using the teleconference information provided in the confirmation email.
Once you join the webinar, you will receive a PIN that you must enter to participate in the Q&A portion of the webinar. If you participate by teleconference only, please press the # key when the PIN number is requested.
The links to the webinar presentations will be posted following each webinar on the Transplant Pro website, under the regional meeting tab:
If you have questions about the information provided in this memo, please contact Betsy Gans at or 804-782-4814.I can also be reached at r 215-776-2443.
To: Region 2 Members
From: Betsy Gans
Region 2 Administrator
Subject: Fall 2017 UNOS Region 2 Meeting Date
Date: January 17, 2017
The fall 2017 Region 2 meeting will tentatively be held on Friday, September 8, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.in Baltimore, MD.
Public comment proposals distributed in July will be discussed during this meeting.
You will receive an email with hotel and agenda information as soon as it is available.
If you know of any local, regional, or national meetings/events that conflict with this date, please let me know by Monday, January 23rd.