New York, NY. October 20, 2008 : On Friday, October 24, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), will present Dr. Joseph T. Cooke, an associate professor of clinical medicine and public health, and chief quality and patient safety officer at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, with a Regional Champion Award for outstanding leadership in promoting organ donation and transplantation in the greater New York metropolitan area.

Dr. Cooke is one of 11 individuals from each of the administrative regions of the national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network or OPTN who will receive an award, following the 4th Annual National Learning Congress on organ donation and transplantation in Nashville, Tennessee.

Dr. Cooke and the other honorees will receive their awards during the HHS/HRSA Medal of Honor Awards Gala, when 402 hospitals throughout the nation that achieved an organ donation rate of 75 percent or more over a 12-month period will be recognized. Eleven hospitals from the greater New York metropolitan area — including NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital — will receive a commendation from HHS. The hospital attained a 75 percent organ donation rate between September 2006 and August 2007.

Dr. Cooke’s specialties are in Pulmonary Disease Medicine, Critical Care Medicine and Internal Medicine. He co-chairs the Weill Cornell Organ Donor Council, and he is chairman of the NewYork Presbyterian Hospital Critical Care Network and the New York Presbyterian Hospital System Donation and Transplantation Council. Dr. Cooke also serves as a member of the New York Organ Donor Network’s medical advisory board.

In making the announcement about the Regional Champion Award for the greater New York metropolitan area to Dr. Cooke, the HHS award review committee stated that he was among those who exemplify “the best qualities of donation and transplantation professionals who are committed to ending deaths on the waiting list.” Each selected regional champion demonstrated an ongoing commitment and passion to enhancing donation and transplantation within their OPTN region; worked with their team on HHS’s national Organ Donation and Transplantation Breakthrough Collaborative, to hold the gains and advance the work of the collaborative; and made a significant contribution in promoting donation/transplantation in their institution, their donation service area and their region.

Elaine Berg, New York Organ Donor Network president and CEO, said: “We congratulate and thank Dr. Cooke and all the personnel at these 11 hospitals in our area. In his devotion, example and leadership, Dr. Cooke has raised the bar in terms of how to meet the growing need for more organ donors. His energy and passion will surely inspire other medical facilities to insure that organ donation best practices are attained and maintained at ever higher levels throughout the New York metropolitan area.”

Maria Sabeta, a New York Organ Donor Network hospital and family services manager, who nominated Dr. Cooke for the award, said: “When I began my career in organ donation 12 years ago as the primary liaison to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, I knew Dr. Cooke to be a supporter and someone we could count on in the intensive care unit. It was when the Breakthrough Collaborative began in 2003 that Dr. Cooke was really given the opportunity to demonstrate his level of commitment. As I went to each ICU director to share the news that NewYork-Presbyterian had partnered with the Donor Network to join this national initiative, it was Dr. Cooke who received the news with the most enthusiasm.”

As a result of his dedication, Ms. Sabeta said, Dr. Cooke was nominated chair of the hospital donor council. “He embraced this position, independently increasing his knowledge of donation, and has made donation part of the agenda of the many meetings he attends,” she said. “Dr. Cooke was also very involved in the development of the New York Organ Donor Network’s donor management guidelines, and he continues to be our local and regional champion as he extends his services beyond his area of focus, readily available to advocate during a donor case as well as participate as invited speaker at area hospitals. Although a collaborative effort, it is under Dr. Cooke’s guidance that NewYork-Presbyterian can now boast being the recipient of a second National Medal of Honor.”

Further Information about Dr. Cooke: In addition to the teaching awards he has received, Dr. Cooke has been listed annually in the Castle and Connelly guide to the Best Physicians in the New York metropolitan area since 2002. In 2006, the New York Organ Donor Network awarded him a plaque in appreciation for his work on organ donation at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He also served on the Institute of Medicine committee on organ donation after cardiac death (DCD). Dr. Cooke was instrumental in the development and implementation of the NewYork Presbyterian DCD policy, as well as the revisions to the referral and brain death policies

In 2005, as part of the Organ Donation and Transplantation Breakthrough Collaborative, Dr. Cooke became a National Improvement Leader. As co-Chair of the Critical Care Leadership Network of the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA), Dr. Cooke has used his leadership position to increase awareness of donation among influential entities. In April of this year, Dr. Cooke presented on The Intensivist’s Role in Organ Donation at a GNYHA – United Hospital Fund Critical Care Leadership Network meeting. Within this presentation he focused on DCD as well as the catastrophic brain injury guidelines which are in the process of being adopted by the NewYork Presbyterian Hospital System along with a consensus statement in favor of DCD.

The Organ Donation and Transplantation Breakthrough Collaborative: The Organ Donation and Transplantation Breakthrough Collaborative is led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). he Collaborative Leadership Team is comprised of individuals from HRSA, the Organ Donation and Transplantation Alliance, the United Network for Organ Sharing, and individual leaders in the fields of organ donation, transplantation, and quality and organizational improvement. The goal of the Collaboratives is to increase the number of deceased donor organs transplanted to 35,000 annually. In 2007, 22,057 transplants from deceased donors occurred in the U.S.

New York-Presbyterian Hospital: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, based in New York City, is the nation’s largest not-for-profit, non-sectarian hospital, with 2,242 beds. The Hospital has nearly 2 million inpatient and outpatient visits in a year, including more than 230,000 visits to its emergency departments — more than any other area hospital. NewYork-Presbyterian provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory and preventive care in all areas of medicine at five major centers: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Allen Pavilion and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division. One of the largest and most comprehensive health-care institutions in the world, the Hospital is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education and community service. It ranks sixth in U.S.News & World Report’s guide to “America’s Best Hospitals,” ranks first on New York magazine’s “Best Hospitals” survey, has the greatest number of physicians listed in New York magazine’s “Best Doctors” issue, and is included among Solucient’s top 15 major teaching hospitals. The Hospital’s mortality rates are among the lowest for heart attack and heart failure in the country, according to a 2007 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report card. The Hospital has academic affiliations with two of the nation’s leading medical colleges: Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. For more information, visit www.nyp.org.

New York Organ Donor Network: Founded in 1978, the New York Organ Donor Network is the second largest of the nation’s 58 nonprofit, federally designated organ procurement organizations (OPOs). The Donor Network is responsible for the recovery of organs, eyes and tissues for transplantation, and public and professional education efforts in the greater New York metropolitan area. It serves a highly diverse population in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Staten Island, Long Island, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Westchester and Pike County, PA. The Donor Network partners with 10 transplant centers, more than 100 hospitals, as well as several eye and tissue banks. The agency is fully accredited by the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO). It is a member of the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS). For more information, and to enroll in the New York State Donate Life Registry, visit www.donatelifeny.org.