Pittsburgh, September 26, 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, is pleased to recognize 24 West Virginia-based hospitals with the West Virginia Governor’s Award for Life 2013. The awards ceremony took place during the West Virginia Hospital Association’s annual meeting on September 26, 2013 at the Greenbrier Resort (White Sulphur Springs, WV). The award recognizes area hospitals that have been successful in supporting organ, tissue and cornea donation within their own health care facilities, and have achieved increased donation rates as a result. Misty Enos, interim director of professional services and community outreach at CORE, recognized leaders from the following hospitals:

• Boone Memorial Hospital (Madison)
• CAMC General Hospital (Charleston)
• CAMC Memorial Hospital (Charleston)
• CAMC Teays Valley Hospital (Charleston)
• CAMC Women & Children’s Hospital (Charleston)
• Camden Clark Medical Center (Parkersburg)
• City Hospital (Martinsburg)
• Greenbrier Valley Medical Center (Fairlea)
• Jefferson Memorial Hospital (Ranson)
• Logan Regional Medical Center (Logan)
• Monongalia General Hospital (Morgantown)
• Ohio Valley Medical Center (Wheeling)
• Plateau Medical Center (Oak Hill)
• Pleasant Valley Hospital (Point Pleasant)
• Raleigh General Hospital (Beckley)
• Reynolds Memorial Hospital (Glen Dale)
• St. Mary’s Medical Center (Huntingdon)
• Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital (Weston)
• Summersville Memorial Hospital (Summersville)
• Thomas Memorial Hospital (South Charleston)

West Virginia Governor’s Award for Life 2013 Recipients (cont.):

• United Hospital Center (Bridgeport)
• Weirton Medical Center (Weirton)
• West Virginia University Hospitals (Morgantown)
• Wheeling Hospital (Wheeling)

“Our hospital partners are the critical link between donation and transplantation. With compassion, they help a patient’s family understand the options and then communicate how their loved one’s legacy can live on through donation. At CORE, we are proud to work with these hospitals and to recognize them for their ongoing commitment to organ, tissue and cornea donation,” said Susan Stuart, president and CEO of CORE. “As a result of their efforts, more lives are able to be saved or enhanced through organ, tissue and cornea donation in West Virginia.”

With the support of U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, former governor of West Virginia, the West Virginia Governor’s Award for Life was implemented in 2007 through a collaboration of the West Virginia Hospital Association, CORE and the other organ procurement organizations that serve West Virginia: Lifeline of Ohio (LOOP), LifeNet Health and Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA).

Nationally, more than 119,000 people are awaiting an organ transplant. At least 18 will die each day without receiving one, including two from CORE’s service area. 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.

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.