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Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) Challenges West Virginia Hospitals to Drive Donor Designations and Promote Donation Awareness

Pittsburgh, March 27, 2013The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE), a federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organization (OPO) serving Pennsylvania, West Virginia and parts of New York, is pleased to partner with the West Virginia Hospital Association (WVHA) and Donate Life West Virginia to help to save and improve the lives of more than 800 West Virginians awaiting a transplant. To drive donor designations and promote donation awareness across the state, WVHA is calling on member hospitals to participate in the 2013 Donate Life West Virginia Hospital Challenge.

Taking place from April 1 to August 31, 2013, the 2013 Donate Life West Virginia Hospital Challenge is an initiative of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)’s Workplace Partnership for Life Campaign & Hospital Challenge. April 1 marks the beginning of National Donate Life Month and has been recognized as West Virginia Donor Designation Day by the West Virginia state legislature.

“We are pleased to be involved in this donor designation campaign, which has proven to have a strong influence on increasing donor designations in a healthcare setting. And increased designations mean more opportunities to give the gift of life to the more than 117,000 individuals on the national waiting list,” said Susan Stuart, president and CEO of CORE. “Eighteen people die every day waiting for a transplant, and two of them from our area. As part of this challenge, our West Virginia hospitals will also help those not only on the waiting list, but thousands more that may need the gift of life in the future.”

“The West Virginia Hospital Association is excited to partner with the Center for Organ Recovery and Education in the 2013 Donate Life West Virginia Hospital Challenge,” said Joe Letnaunchyn, president and CEO of the West Virginia Hospital Association. “WVHA is committed to working with member hospitals to ensure a strong healthcare system in our state. We feel confident that this campaign will allow hospitals to make a significant impact on the lives of those waiting on a healing tissue transplant or a life-saving organ transplant.”

This August, participating member hospitals will be recognized and awarded for their efforts based on their size, activities completed and increase in donor designations. In 2012, the state of Arizona implemented a similar partnership that included 31 healthcare facilities that resulted in more than 5,000 new donor designations.

For more information about CORE, visit www.core.org or call 1-800-DONORS-7.

About CORE
The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) is one of 58 federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organizations (OPOs) in the United States. CORE works closely with donor families and designated health care professionals to coordinate the surgical recovery of organs, tissues and corneas for transplantation. CORE also facilitates the computerized matching of donated organs and placement of corneas. With headquarters in Pittsburgh and an office in Charleston, West Virginia, CORE oversees a region that encompasses 155 hospitals and almost six million people throughout western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Chemung County, NY. For more information, visit www.core.org or call 1-800-DONORS-7.