Philadelphia Region Experiences Largest Number Of Organ Donations In The U.S.

Region Continues To Lead Nation In Number Of Transplants

PHILADELPHIA

PRNewswire -- For the fourth straight year, the greater Philadelphia region experienced the largest number of organ donations in the nation, according to Gift of Life Donor Program, the nonprofit organ donor program serving the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware.

Last year, 331 area residents who died donated vital organs for 998 transplants. This is the largest number of organ donors in any one region in the nation and represents an 11 percent increase in donors as compared to 1998. In addition, 326 people donated musculoskeletal tissues such as bone and ligaments used to repair diseased or injured joints, representing a 15 percent increase over 1998; and, 756 area residents donated corneas for use in transplant procedures to restore sight. These tissue donations will ultimately benefit thousands of patients in the region and across the country.

This marked the sixth consecutive year that organ donations have increased in the region. It also represents a 59 percent increase in organ donations and a 62 percent increase in transplants since 1994 when organ donation laws were rewritten in Pennsylvania. The 1994 "routine referral" law -- Pa. Act 102 -- required hospitals to routinely call the organ donor program when patients die so that families can be offered the option of donation. Similar laws were implemented in 1995 in New Jersey and in Delaware in 1998.

"Last year, hundreds of families saw through their grief and gave life or a better quality of life to others," said Howard M. Nathan, president and chief executive officer of Gift of Life. "This act of selfless giving is what continues to give hope to so many others who still await transplants."

There are currently more than 3,200 area residents awaiting organ transplants while more than 65,000 patients nationwide are on the transplant waiting list.

In 1999, the donor program also underwent a name change and celebrated its 25th anniversary. Founded in 1974 as Delaware Valley Transplant Program, Gift of Life Donor Program is one of the oldest nonprofit donor programs in the U.S. Gift of Life serves as the link between donors and transplant candidates in the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and the State of Delaware.

Contact:Kevin Sparkman of the Gift of Life Donor Program, 215-557-8090, or pager, 215-719-7272.

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