Jennifer Moe
Director of Communications/PR
Donor Alliance
303-329-4747

HOSPITALS IN COLORADO AND WYOMING RECOGNIZED BY U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES FOR HIGH ORGAN DONATION RATES

Seven Hospitals will Receive Medal of Honor for Achieving National Goal

DENVER – October 24, 2008 – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will honor seven Colorado and Wyoming hospitals for excellence in organ donation at the National Learning Congress in Nashville, this evening. The HHS Medal of Honor awards are presented to hospitals that have sustained an organ donation rate of 75 percent or more for at least 12 consecutive months with a minimum of at least eight potential organ donors.

The awards are a result of a joint venture between Donor Alliance and local hospitals that began with the national Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative and now continues into the Transplant Growth and Management Collaborative. The Collaboratives were launched by HHS in 2003 to save thousands of lives annually by spreading best practices to the nation's largest hospitals. Their aim is to increase the availability of transplantable organs.

Throughout Donor Alliance’s two-state service area, the donation rate for the award period of June 1, 2007 to May 31, 2008 was 83 percent, with 106 organ donors recovered and 351 organs transplanted.

“Achieving these performance levels would not have been possible without the generosity of donor families and registered donors, donation champions in hospitals and the tireless commitment of our staff,” said Sue Dunn, president and CEO of Donor Alliance. “I am proud to work with such a dedicated and charitable group of individuals as we work to offer lifesaving solutions to the 100,000 people in our country who need an organ transplant.”

The following hospitals achieved a donation rate of 75 percent or more and had at least eight organ donors:

Medal of Honor Award Winning Hospitals:

Denver Health Medical Center
Donation Rate: 90%
Organ Donors: 9

Memorial Hospital
Donation Rate: 100%
Organ Donors: 7

St. Anthony Central
Donation Rate: 94%
Organ Donors: 15

St. Mary’s Medical Center
Donation Rate: 82%
Organ Donors: 14

Swedish Medical Center
Donation Rate: 83%
Organ Donors: 15

University of Colorado Hospital
Donation Rate: 88%
Organ Donors: 7

Wyoming Medical Center
Donation Rate: 100%
Organ Donors: 8


*Highest donation rate achieved during one 12-month period ending between 6/1/07 and 5/31/08.

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