PHILADELPHIA, PA — Gift of Life Donor Program – the organ procurement organization for the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware – and the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) Southeast Connect, honored Thomas Jefferson University Hospital with the 2022 Gift of Life Award on November 4, 2022. This prestigious, annual award is given to a hospital(s) with superior performance in organ donation that have either achieved a 75% organ donation conversion rate during the past year, or that have dramatically improved their performance.
Gift of Life also recognized 17 Pennsylvania hospitals that achieved a 100% patient referral rate. The hospitals are Abington Hospital – Jefferson Health, Bryn Mawr Hospital, Chester County Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Doylestown Hospital, Jeanes Hospital, Jefferson Bucks Hospital, Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience, Lankenau Medical Center, Nazareth Hospital, Paoli Hospital, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Riddle Hospital, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, St. Mary Medical Center and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. The recipients were honored during a HAP Southeast Connect Meeting.
“We are excited to recognize Thomas Jefferson University Hospital with the Gift of Life Award for superior performance in organ donation,” said Rick Hasz, President & CEO, Gift of Life Donor Program. “We applaud this dedicated and compassionate team for making organ donation an integral part of end-of-life care.”
“It gives me great pride as a leader at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital,” said Richard Webster, President, Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals. “I think it’s critically important that organ donation is a part of end-of-life care. Jefferson is extremely proud of the great work we do in our community, in the city of Philadelphia and across the country.”
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 about 100 others. For more information or to register, visit donors1.org.