Harrisburg, PA, Aug. 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) today announced the honorees for its 2022 Donate Life Pennsylvania Hospital Challenge.
The annual campaign encourages Pennsylvania hospitals to increase organ, eye, and tissue donation awareness and designations within their hospitals and communities. HAP partnered with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the two organ procurement organizations serving Pennsylvania—the Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) and Gift of Life Donor Program—to support the challenge.
During April, in conjunction with National Donate Life Month, participating hospitals conducted activities to support donation, such as internal trainings and coordination meetings, campaigns to register new organ donors, community events, and public communications. Activities were captured on a scorecard and participating hospitals and health systems earned titanium, platinum, gold, silver, or bronze level recognitions.
This year, 109 hospitals statewide participated in the challenge, as well as the national Hospital Campaign for Organ Donation led by the Health Resources and Services Administration. Pennsylvania was among the top three states for the number of hospitals participating in the national campaign. HAP applauds its members’ commitment to drawing attention to the need for organ, eye, and tissue donors and encouraging new donor registrations throughout the challenge.
“HAP recognizes the hospital teams dedicating their time, energy, resources, and passion to supporting organ donation—even as they continue to navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and a workforce crisis,” HAP President and CEO Andy Carter said. “The hospital community is proud to join our partners in encouraging Pennsylvanians to consider organ donation. One donor can save up to eight lives and enhance up to 75 others.”
The top performers of the 2022 HAP Donate Life Pennsylvania Hospital Challenge are:
CORE Top Performers (Western Pennsylvania)
Top Health Systems: First Place: Allegheny Health Network (AHN), Second Place: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), Third Place: Excela Health System
Top Hospitals: First Place: AHN West Penn Hospital, Second Place: AHN Allegheny Valley Hospital, Third Place: AHN Allegheny General Hospital
Gift of Life Donor Program Top Performers (Eastern Pennsylvania)
Top Health Systems: First Place: Temple University Health System, Second Place: Main Line Health, Third Place: UPMC North Central PA
Top Hospitals: First Place: Temple University Hospital, Second Place: Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Third Place: Paoli Hospital
A full list of hospital designations resulting from the challenge, and more information about the scoring process, can be found at HAP’s website.
“Organ and tissue transplants have become an integral part of health care in the state, saving the lives of many individuals and helping others live fuller and longer lives,” Acting Health Secretary and Pennsylvania Physician General Dr. Denise Johnson said. “We truly appreciate the extraordinary efforts of so many hospitals and health systems for increasing awareness about the life-saving process of organ donation, as we all strive to create a healthy Pennsylvania for everyone.”
“CORE applauds the incredible innovation and hard work of our hospital partners throughout western Pennsylvania,” said Susan Stuart, president and CEO of CORE. “Led by Andy Carter and his extraordinary team at HAP, the 2022 Donate Life Pennsylvania Hospital Challenge spurred tremendous outreach and education efforts by our hospitals, ultimately strengthening the connection between donation and transplantation, and allowing CORE to save and heal more lives than ever before in our more than 40-year history.”
“Gift of Life Donor Program extends our deep appreciation and gratitude to HAP and our hospital partners for promoting donation and transplantation through the HAP Donate Life Pennsylvania Hospital Challenge,” said Rick Hasz, President and CEO of Gift of Life Donor Program. “Our hospital partners, through their outstanding compassion and commitment to clinical best practices, have established a strong culture of donation as they care for our heroic donors, support donor families and bring hope to the more than 7,000 Pennsylvanians who need a life-saving transplant. Together, we have made Pennsylvania a leader in organ donation and we will continue working so that no patient dies waiting for a second chance at life.”
ABOUT HAP: HAP is a statewide membership services organization that represents 235 hospitals as well as the patients and communities they serve. Additional information about HAP is available online.
About CORE: The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) is one of 57 federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organizations (OPOs) in the United States, serving more than five million people in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. CORE coordinates the recovery and matching of organs, tissues and corneas for transplant within our service region, and works tirelessly to create a culture of donation within the hospitals and communities we serve. CORE’s mission is to Save and Heal lives through donation, ultimately ending the deaths of those on the transplant waiting list, while maintaining integrity for the donation process, dignity for the donors, and compassion for their families. CORE is a winner of the 2019 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, a presidential award that recognizes nonprofits for their innovation and excellence. For more information, visit www.core.org or call 1-800-DONORS-7.
ABOUT GIFT OF LIFE DONOR PROGRAM: Gift of Life Donor Program is the non-profit, federally designated organ procurement organization, working with 129 acute care hospitals and 14 transplant centers to serve 11.3 million people in the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware. Thanks to its compassionate community, for the past 14 years, Gift of Life has coordinated the most organ donors in the United States. Its annual donation rate, most recently 62 organ donors-per-million-population, ranks among the highest in the world. Since 1974, Gift of Life has coordinated more than 55,000 organs for transplant, and more than two million tissue transplants have resulted from the generosity of donors and their families. One organ donor can save the lives of up to eight people, and a tissue donor can improve the lives of more than 100 others. For more information or to register, visit donors1.org.
ABOUT DONATE LIFE PENNSYLVANIA: Donate Life Pennsylvania is a collaborative initiative between the Pennsylvania departments of Health, Education and Transportation and Pennsylvania’s two organ procurement organizations, the Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) and Gift of Life Donor Program (GOL). It is funded by residents of Pennsylvania through voluntary contributions included with driver’s license renewals, vehicle registrations and state income tax filings or direct donations to the Governor Robert P. Casey Memorial Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Trust Fund in care of the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Trust Fund contributions are used to educate Pennsylvanians, build awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donation, and increase the number of people who sign up to become organ donors on their driver's license or state identification card. More information is available at donatelifepa.org or facebook.com/DonateLifePennsylvania.
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