WESTCHESTER Records the Highest Number of Organ Donors;

STONY BROOK Is the No. 1 Tissue Donor Hospital

New York, NY, April 25, 2006: Of the 261 deceased organ donors recovered in the Greater New York metropolitan area in 2005, the hospital with the highest number of donors was Westchester Medical Center with 17, according to data issued by the New York Organ Donor Network. Westchester’s organ donors represented 7 percent of the total number of donors.

Close on Westchester’s heels for second place, with 16 organ donors, was New York Presbyterian-Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. Last year’s top hospital, Jamaica Hospital Center, placed third with 15 organ donors.

The New York Organ Donor Network is the federally designated nonprofit organization serving 13 million people in the New York metro area. The agency recovers solid organs such as hearts, kidneys and livers from 104 hospitals in New York City, Long Island, the northern counties up to Poughkeepsie, and Pike County, PA.

Based on Donor Network data, there were also 622 tissue donors last year, the highest number ever for the New York metro region. Tissues include eyes, skin, bone, heart-valves and veins. The top hospital for tissues, with 23 recovered donors in 2005, was SUNY Stony Brook/Stony Brook University Hospital. Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center ranked second with 22 tissue donors. Southside Hospital and Westchester Medical Center shared the number three position, with 19 tissue donors each. Of the 14 hospitals in the top tissue rankings in 2005, nine were located on Long Island.

Commenting on the efforts of all of the region’s donor hospitals in 2005, Linda Bowes, the New York Organ Donor Network’s director of hospital services, said, “Because of their continuing collaboration with us, 684 organs were transplanted, benefiting 627 desperately sick patients. That’s the most lives saved in one year, and an incredible 127 more transplants than in 2000. In addition, more than 1,300 tissues were recovered from 453 donors. Those tissues will save and improve the lives of many, many people.”

In releasing numbers reflecting top donor hospitals, the Donor Network emphasized that the total number of organs recovered do not always reveal the full story. Some hospitals had fewer donation opportunities but performed admirably in terms of high consent rates (the percentage of donor families agreeing to donation). For instance, St. Barnabas Hospital, with eight organ donors, recorded a well above average consent rate of 69 percent. Likewise, Mount Sinai/NYU Medical Center’s eight organ donors reflected a consent rate of 62 percent.

The average consent rate for organ donation in the Greater New York metro area in 2005 was 48 percent, compared against a national average of 55 percent.

Ms. Bowes said there were various factors that contributed to the achievements of the top donor hospitals. “One aspect that warrants special mention,” she said, “was the role of the hospitals’ organ and tissue donor councils.” Ms. Bowes explained that the donor councils are multidisciplinary teams drawn from hospital and Donor Network staff.

“Their charge is to develop systems in the hospital to support and increase organ and tissue donation,” Ms. Bowes said. “These task force committees meet on a regular basis to review data and donor cases, and to examine best practices from around the country to achieve the national goal of a 75 percent consent rate in their hospital.”

Deborah Benzil, M.D., F.A.C.S., who chaired the donor council at Westchester in 2005, said she was proud to have served in that capacity at the number one organ donor hospital.

“On the council, we initiated many programs to raise awareness about organ donation and streamlined declaration of brain death while respecting the dignity of life,” Dr. Benzil said. “It is an exciting time to be involved in organ donation. Still, we face a great many challenges to meet the rising need for patients who remain on waiting lists. Working together through donor councils throughout the region, we can better meet these needs going forward.”

Ken Olmer, assistant director of nursing at Stony Brook University Hospital and the donor council co-chair, was pleased to learn that the hospital had the highest number of tissue donors in the region. “It is wonderful to be recognized for the efforts that the entire staff at Stony Brook University Hospital has put in place for educating families and community members about organ and tissue donation,” he said.

Mr. Olmer added: “It’s rewarding to know that recent efforts to improve the referral process have been successful. It also demonstrates the commitment of the staff to make the referral process work.”

Top New York Metro Area Organ and Tissue Donor Hospitals, in 2001 - 2005

For more information, contact Martin Woolf at 646-291-4460 or mwoolf@nyodn.org.