PR87469

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

-- Region Demonstrates Extraordinary Generosity and Clinical Leadership Despite

Pandemic Challenges: Most Organ Donors Every Year Since 2008

For the 13th consecutive year, Gift of Life Donor Program leads the nation in

the most organ donors among all 58 U.S. Organ Procurement Organizations (OPO).

Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of its community, Gift of Life has

coordinated the most organ donors in the nation every year since 2008.

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The federally designated OPO, headquartered in Philadelphia, coordinated

life-saving gifts from 619 organ donors in 2020, resulting in 1,621 organs

transplanted.  Gift of Life's annual donation rate, 55 organ

donors-per-million-population, is among the highest in the world.

"Gift of Life Donor Program steadfastly advanced its life-saving mission, even

in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Gift of Life President and CEO

Howard M. Nathan.  "This is a testament to the dedication and expertise of our

staff, the commitment of our hospital partners and the inspiring generosity of

our donors and donor families.  Our compassionate community is the most

generous in the nation, choosing to save lives and support families despite

their grief and the many challenges of this past year."  Zach, a 5-year-old who

received a life-saving heart transplant during the pandemic, and his mother

Sarah, express appreciation for his new heart:

https://www.donors1.org/gift-of-life-update-zach-sarahs-story/ 

Gift of Life also recovered life-enhancing tissues from 2,295 donors, including

1,385 musculoskeletal donors and 1,726 cornea donors. These donations can

benefit more than 110,000 people, with bone donations for orthopedic and sports

injuries, skin donations to heal burn patients and for reconstructive surgery,

heart valve donations to repair life-threatening defects and corneas to provide

the gift of sight. In this video, Alex Cummings talks about how cornea donation

restored her vision and her independence: https://youtu.be/sueWEa_SJGk 

Life-saving Mission Continues During Pandemic

In a year that brought major disruptions to people's daily lives and widespread

uncertainty amid the coronavirus outbreak, the Gift of Life team rapidly

adapted to new challenges by implementing COVID-19 testing for donors, adapting

procedures and communications with hospitals and families, and securing

personal protective equipment (PPE) for its frontline clinical team to ensure

its life-saving mission continued. The OPO also found special ways to support

its clinical partners and hospital colleagues, providing PPE, care packages and

meals, and donating ventilators to treat coronavirus patients.

Gift of Life partners with 128 acute care hospitals and 15 transplant centers

across its service area to save and heal lives through organ and tissue donation.

"Gift of Life's expert team addresses life-saving clinical situations every

day, working side-by-side, 24/7 with critical care teams at the nation's

foremost hospitals and transplant centers to provide families with the

opportunity for donation," said Gift of Life Vice President of Clinical

Services Richard D. Hasz.  "Our hospital partners have staunchly continued to

champion donation, along with the tremendous pressures of fighting COVID-19.  

Many have shared with us that donation and transplantation has been a silver

lining offering hope to others during a very challenging year."  Gift of Life

recognizes hospitals annually for championing organ donation with its Gift of

Life Award. Hear this year's award winner reflect upon caring for families and

their partnership with Gift of Life:  

https://www.donors1.org/gift-of-life-and-the-hospital-and-healthsystem-association-of-pennsylvania-southeast-connect-honor-crozer-chester-medical-center-for-outstanding-organ-donation-rates/ 

More than 108,000 people are waiting for a life-saving organ in the U.S. and

every day, 20 people die waiting. In Gift of Life's service area, which

encompasses the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware,

there are currently more than 5,300 men, women and children awaiting a

life-saving transplant.  

"Our generous community continued to demonstrate remarkable empathy and

resilience in 2020," said Gift of Life Vice President of Administration &

General Counsel Jan L. Weinstock, Esq.  "More than ever, we are so grateful to

donor families.  Many times, they couldn't even be with their loved one in the

ICU because of the pandemic, but in the midst of their grief, cared enough

about helping others to say 'yes' to donation."

Donation and transplantation would not be possible without the generosity of

heroic donors and donor families.  Gift of Life pays tribute to donor heroes

each year during its poignant and moving Life and Legacy Celebrations for donor

families. View this year's first-ever virtual ceremony:

https://www.donors1.org/llc4/ 

The need for life-saving organs is urgent. With the temporary closure of

driver's license centers in some areas in 2020 due to COVID-19, organ donor

registration slowed, making the need to register more important than ever.

Everyone can register quickly at 

https://www.donors1.org/learn-about-organ-donation/sign-up-to-save-lives/ 

Leader in Community Support

Gift of Life's 619 generous organ donors enabled 1,621 life-saving transplants.

Many had to travel far from home during the pandemic for care at our region's

leading transplant centers. Gift of Life Family House (https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3026271-1&h=967887244&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.giftoflifefamilyhouse.org%2F&a=Gift+of+Life+Family+House ) in Philadelphia remained open and made numerous changes to safely continue

providing affordable lodging, meals and supportive services for transplant

patients and their families. In addition, a robust webinar series was

introduced for transplant patients and caregivers, covering a variety of

topics, including managing during COVID-19, post-transplant mental health,

caregiver wellness, among others. These free virtual support webinars were

attended by more than 2,000 participants and provided the transplant community

with important health and wellness information. In 2020, Family House staff and

volunteers provided 4,396 lodging nights of care for 7,519 guests, 15,038

meals, and 426 rides to and from local hospitals. With community support, the

Family House has provided 70,722 lodging nights for 129,201 guests, served more

than 258,401 meals, and provided more than $9.93 million in subsidized care to

families since opening in 2011.  Family House will celebrate its 10th

Anniversary in July 2021. Learn about how Family House provided a safe and

comfortable home away from home for lung transplant recipient Maggi and her

partner George during the pandemic:

https://www.giftoflifefamilyhouse.org/njcouplegetsnewleaseonlife/ 

Gift of Life's work would not be possible without hundreds of volunteers

throughout our region. Despite the pandemic, these ambassadors helped virtually

educate the public, attended trainings, donated food and materials to the

Family House, and participated in dozens of programs with schools, houses of

worship, hospitals and other community organizations to support our life-saving mission.

Leader in Innovation and Education

Gift of Life is recognized internationally for its leadership and scholarship

in the field of organ and tissue donation.  The OPO works jointly with

investigators from a host of government, academic medical and nonprofit

institutions to support the advancement of donation and medical transplantation.

The year 2020 marked the 25th anniversary of Gift of Life 's first organ

donation after circulatory death (DCD), which took place thanks to a young hero

and his compassionate family. Michael McVey's legacy went on to transform

donation across the U.S. through his mother Susan McVey Dillon's passionate

advocacy and Gift of Life's teaching and leadership. Since then, Gift of Life

has coordinated a total of 1,682 DCD donations, resulting in 3,009 organs

transplanted. Nationally, DCD donations have been responsible for saving more

than 44,000 lives. Now, more than two decades later, DCD heart donation has

become a reality thanks to an innovative preservation technology. Gift of Life

coordinated the region's first DCD heart recovery in May, followed by three

additional successful DCD heart donations. DCD hearts offer hope to those

desperately in need of a life-saving transplant and are expected to expand the

donor pool by as much as 30 percent. Learn about Michael McVey's history making

legacy and his family's important partnership with Gift of Life which

transformed donation in the U.S.:  

https://www.donors1.org/michaels-legacy-donation-milestone-led-to-44000-lives-saved/ 

In January, Penn Medicine announced the birth of Benjamin Gobrecht. Baby

Benjamin was the second baby in the U.S. to be born following the

transplantation of a uterus from a deceased donor. Gift of Life Donor Program

partnered with Penn Medicine, coordinating the donation for the Uterus

Transplantation for Uterine Factor Infertility (UNTIL) Trial that resulted in

this clinical milestone. This donation and transplant innovation offers hope to

women born with Uterine Factor Infertility (UFI), a previously irreversible

form of female infertility that affects as many as five percent of

reproductive-aged women worldwide. Learn more about the UNTIL trial and the

Gobrecht's transplant journey:

https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2020/january/penn-medicine-birth-marks-a-milestone-in-uterus-transplant-clinical-trial

The Gift of Life Institute (https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3026271-1&h=3670987792&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.giftoflifeinstitute.org%2F&a=Gift+of+Life+Institute )

is an international training center for organ and tissue donation

professionals, offering comprehensive, interdisciplinary resources to increase

donation outcomes, including skills-based learning, continuing education,

collaborative research, and consulting services. Since its inception in 2004,

the Institute has facilitated more than 450 workshops with 58 OPOs and multiple

tissue banks, training over 11,000 professionals from across the U.S. and 33

countries around the world. In 2020, the Institute successfully pivoted to an

all virtual platform, conducting training for more than 1,100 participants.

The Institute's Transplant Pregnancy Registry International (TPR) (https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3026271-1&h=828387733&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.transplantpregnancyregistry.org%2F&a=Transplant+Pregnancy+Registry+International ) studies post-transplant parenthood and the effects of

medications on fertility and pregnancy. Since 1991, TPR has tracked more than 5,000

post-transplant pregnancy outcomes, sharing information with countless

transplant recipients and their healthcare teams making family planning

decisions. TPR is the only Registry of its kind in the world. Its team has

presented their findings in more than 76 peer-reviewed publications and

presented at 530 academic forums worldwide.

Gift of Life Donor Program

Gift of Life Donor Program (https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3026271-1&h=991641615&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.donors1.org%2Fabout-gift-of-life%2Foverview%2F&a=Gift+of+Life+Donor+Program ) is the non-profit, federally

designated organ procurement organization, working with 128 acute care hospitals

and 15 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

13 years, Gift of Life has coordinated the most organ donors in the United States. Its annual

donation rate, 55 organ donors-per-million-population, ranks among the highest

in the world. Since 1974, Gift of Life has coordinated more than 52,500 life-saving organs

for transplant, and approximately 1.75 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 (https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3026271-1&h=555638321&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.donors1.org%2F&a=visit+donors1.org.+ ).

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SOURCE Gift of Life Donor Program

CONTACT: Karen Muldoon Geus, kmuldoongeus@donors1.org, 610-864-1840, Kimberly

Kerr, kkerr@donors1.org, 215-219-6268