Pittsburgh, Jan. 27, 2014 – The 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, recently recognized 11 hospitals from across its Pennsylvania service area for their participation in the 2013 Pennsylvania Donate Life Hospital Challenge. An initiative of the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) and the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the challenge took place between April 1 and Aug. 31, 2013. During this time, the hospitals held activities to inspire and increase donor awareness and designations within their health care facilities. This past Thursday, Jan. 23, CORE held a luncheon at its Pittsburgh headquarters to recognize the following winners:

• Allegheny General Hospital (Gold)
• Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC (Gold)
• Conemaugh Health System – Memorial Medical Center (Gold)
• Meadville Medical Center (Gold)
• UPMC Hamot (Gold)
• UPMC Mercy (Gold)
• UPMC Presbyterian (Gold)
• Magee Women’s Hospital of UPMC (Silver)
• Robert Packer Hospital (Silver)
• UPMC Passavant (Silver)
• Forbes Regional Hospital (Bronze)

“We are pleased to be involved in this donor designation campaign, which continues to have a strong influence on increasing donor designations in a healthcare setting,” said Susan Stuart, president and CEO of CORE. “Eighteen people die every day waiting for a transplant, which includes two from our service area. Through this challenge, our Pennsylvania hospitals will continue to help more than 8,300 individuals across the state awaiting a transplant, along with more than 120,000 on the national waiting list.”

For more information about CORE, visit www.core.org.

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.