–Organ Procurement Organization Honored by Keystone Alliance for Performance Excellence–

Pittsburgh, January 28, 2015 – Working its way up the Baldrige ladder one success at a time, the Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) achieved Level II Proficiency through the Keystone Alliance for Performance Excellence (KAPE) — a rare occurrence for first-time applicants.

CORE was required to complete an organizational profile and a 50-page response to all Baldrige Criteria questions in order to be considered for the KAPE award. Along with the required paperwork, KAPE officials conducted an extensive two-day, on-site interview of CORE headquarters to ensure all requirements were met.

“We are extremely proud of receiving this prestigious award from KAPE,” said Susan Stuart, president and CEO of CORE. “It is a wonderful testament to the tireless efforts of the team at CORE, who selflessly committed themselves to our organization’s journey to excellence.”

KAPE awards are given to organizations that have successfully applied leading-edge Baldrige Criteria to perform low-cost, non-prescriptive assessments to address an organization’s unique challenges. The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, established by Congress and President Ronald Reagan in 1987, is the nation’s public-private partnership dedicated to performance excellence.

With a mission to improve the competitiveness and performance of U.S. organizations for the benefit of all U.S. residents, Baldrige is a customer-focused federal change agent that develops and disseminates evaluation criteria, manages the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and promotes performance excellence.

“Performance excellence is essential to our mission at CORE because everything we do affects the lives of donors, transplant patients and their families in profound ways,” Stuart added.

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.