DCU Opening and Garden Dedication

We are pleased to share that our state-of-the-art Donor Care and Surgical Recovery Unit (DCU) is now open. Five years ago, Midwest Transplant Network (MTN) saw the need for in-house organ donor care and organ recovery. Since then, our staff members and partners have worked diligently to design and construct the DCU; educate our hospital and community partners; and train our staff on new processes and equipment. We look forward to providing highly specialized care in the DCU for years to come.

Alongside the DCU, we also opened a new outdoor space designed specifically for donor family members. We dedicated Gretchen’s Garden for Heroes on Sept. 24. This beautiful, peaceful garden is lovingly named after Gretchen Gosch, an MTN colleague who donated tissues to those in need after passing away. Gretchen provided expert care to families as a Family Services Coordinator, and she is remembered for her warm, bubbly personality and bright smile.

Visitors to the garden will find artwork by three talented artists, Rita Blitt, Hector E. Garcia and Marla Byrne. Blitt’s “Relating with Love” is a metal sculpture featuring interconnected shapes that illustrate the relationship between donors, recipients and their loved ones. The Kansas City Parade of Hearts featured Garcia's “Kansas City, the Midwest Charm,” and we are now proud to display the work in its permanent home within the garden. The piece prominently features a butterfly, a commonly used symbol of new life and donation, as well as swirls — which are part of the National Organ Donation Symbol, representing the circle of life. Susan Gosch donated “Rosary Stepping Stone” by Byrne in honor of her daughter Gretchen Gosch.

Gretchen’s Garden for Heroes is in front of MTN’s headquarters building at 1900 W. 47th Place in Westwood, Kansas. While created for donor families to have an open space to honor and remember their loved ones, the garden is open to the public.