FRANKLIN HOSPITAL , MARY IMMACULATE HOSPITAL, AND ST. LUKE'S-ROOSEVELT HOSPITAL AWARDED THE FIRST ORGAN DONATION MEDALS OF HONOR

(New York, NY), May 24, 2005 – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has awarded three hospitals in the Greater New York metro area the first Organ Donation Medals of Honor for achieving organ donation rates of 75% or higher in a 12-month period. Out of more than 100 hospitals in the region, Franklin Hospital (Valley Stream), Mary Immaculate Hospital (Queens), and St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital ( Manhattan ) were recognized at a formal dinner on May 19 th that was the capstone of the first annual Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative National Learning Congress in Pittsburgh , PA.

HRSA Administrator Elizabeth Duke announced a new Organ Transplantation Breakthrough Collaborative as part of the award ceremony. The new collaborative aims to assist donor hospitals, organ procurement organizations (OPOs) and transplant programs in increasing the number of organs transplanted per donor to 3.75 over the course of the next 500 days.  Nationally, approximately 160 of the 542 qualifying hospitals merited the inaugural Organ Donation Medals of Honor.

Franklin, Mary Immaculate and St. Luke's Hospitals had at least 8 eligible donors in a single, continuous 12-month period between September 2003 and March 2005. In addition the hospitals and OPOs successfully collaborated to convert at least 75% of these eligible donors to actual donors.

Elaine Berg, president and CEO of the New York Organ Donor Network said, "The recognition of these hospitals by the federal government is positive proof that organ donation is yet another way for hospitals to save lives; and the most successful hospitals are those that have developed strong collaborative relationships with the Donor Network.”

The award honors hospitals and OPOs for their exemplary leadership and commitment to organ donors, donor families and the nearly 88,000 patients on the national transplant waiting list. They earned the recognition for the effective relationships they have developed with each other that have generated these life-saving results.

For more information about organ donation, and to enroll in the New York State Organ and Tissue Donor Registry, visit www.donatelifeny.org .

Media Contact: Martin Woolf at 646-291-4460 or mwoolf@nyodn.org .