Pittsburgh, September 12, 2013 – 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, marked the grand opening of its newly constructed Brian A. Broznick Pavilion at its Pittsburgh offices (204 Sigma Drive, RIDC Park, Pittsburgh, Pa.) during a ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception on Thursday, September 12. An expansion of CORE’s current offices, the 25,000-square-foot facility is named in honor of the organization’s former president and CEO and includes two fully functional operating rooms.

“Brian Broznick was a pioneer in organ donation, and it is only fitting that CORE’s expanded facilities carry his name. He was also my husband, and I am pleased to honor him in this way,” said Susan Stuart, president and CEO of CORE. “Our two operating rooms now enable us to do something we have never done before at our offices. Highly skilled medical personnel can now recover organs and tissues here. By doing so, we can secure these precious gifts for transplantation to someone in desperate need while improving satisfaction for our key partners and improving our responsiveness to our donor families.”

Invited guests attended a reception and were able to take a tour of the new building, which also includes two intensive care units, an expanded call center, a research center used in conjunction with corporate and hospital partners, a bereavement center for donor families, an auditorium with a capacity for 150 and a green roof complete with a flower garden. A glass-enclosed atrium connects the new structure to the original building.

“Every day across this country, 18 people die waiting for a life-saving organ. Two of them are from our area,” continued Stuart. “It can only be described as a health care crisis, which is why increasing the number of life-saving organs and tissues for transplantation to every recipient is critical to the mission of CORE. The opening of our new facility opens a new chapter in this region when it comes to organ recovery and transplantation.”

Nationally, more than 119,000 people are awaiting an organ transplant.

For every person who donates their organs, tissues and corneas, up to 50 lives can be saved or dramatically improved.

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