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Suburban Community Hospital Recognized for Supporting Organ Donation
Hospital team supported education, awareness through statewide challenge
East Norriton, PA (08/6/2023)— Suburban Community Hospital is receiving statewide recognition for its efforts to support and raise awareness about organ, eye, and tissue donation.
Suburban Community Hospital was honored with a platinum designation through The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania’s (HAP) 2023 Donate Life Pennsylvania Hospital Challenge.
The annual campaign encourages Pennsylvania hospitals to increase organ, eye, and tissue donation awareness within their hospitals and communities. HAP partnered with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the two organ procurement organizations serving Pennsylvania—the Center for Organ Recovery & Education and Gift of Life Donor Program—to support the challenge.
“As a local community hospital, we are positioned to not only tend to the health needs of our patients but to inspire our community to be mindful of wellness in all aspects of life,” said Jim Hazlett, CNO of Suburban Community Hospital. “The more people we educate to become organ donors, the better we can serve our mission to be advocates for the well-being of our entire community.”
Suburban Community Hospital participation in the challenge included a public Donate Life flag-raising ceremony with a donor recipient, Blue and Green Day activities, social media posts, and free educational handouts and information throughout the hospital. These activities continued during the month of April and contributed toward the platinum designation for the hospital’s efforts in this challenge.
“Organ, eye, and tissue donors are critical to helping hospital teams save and improve lives,” said HAP President and CEO Nicole Stallings. “HAP applauds the outstanding work of Pennsylvania hospitals and our partners to support and raise awareness about donation. These efforts reflect hospital teams’ commitment to strengthening the health of their communities.”
Suburban Community Hospital was one of 107 hospitals statewide that participated in this year’s challenge.
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About Suburban Community Hospital – Suburban Community Hospital is a not-for-profit, acute care hospital, and a member of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity. For over 65 years, Suburban Community Hospital has been delivering quality healthcare to Montgomery County and the surrounding region. Suburban Community Hospital, originally named Riverview Hospital, opened in 1944. Chartered at 740 Sandy Street in Norristown, PA, Riverview Osteopathic Hospital would provide medical and surgical services to the sick, afflicted, and injured, and would educate persons in the care and nursing. As part of Prime Healthcare Services, headquartered in Ontario, California, Suburban Community Hospital is focused on becoming one of the leaders in technology.
Prime Healthcare is an award-winning hospital management company operating 45 acute care hospitals in 14 states, including Roxborough Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia, Lower Bucks Hospital in Bucks County, and Suburban Community Hospital in Montgomery County.
About Prime Healthcare and Prime Healthcare Foundation: Prime Healthcare is an award-winning health system operating 45 hospitals and more than 300 outpatient locations in 14 states, providing over 2.6 million patient visits annually. It is one of the nation’s leading health systems with nearly 50,000 employees and physicians dedicated to providing the highest quality healthcare. Fourteen of the Prime Healthcare hospitals are members of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit public charity. Based in Ontario, California, Prime Healthcare is nationally recognized for award-winning quality care and has been named a Top 10 and Top 15 Health System by IBM Watson Health. Its hospitals have been named among the nation’s “100 Top Hospitals” 58 times and have received more Patient Safety Excellence Awards from Healthgrades than any other health system in the past six years. To learn more, please visit www.primehealthcare.com
About Donate Life Pennsylvania: Donate Life Pennsylvania is a collaborative initiative between the Pennsylvania departments of Health, Education and Transportation and Pennsylvania’s two organ procurement organizations, the Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) and Gift of Life Donor Program (GOL). It is funded by residents of Pennsylvania through voluntary contributions included with driver’s license renewals, vehicle registrations and state income tax filings or direct donations to the Governor Robert P. Casey Memorial Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Trust Fund in care of the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Trust Fund contributions are used to educate Pennsylvanians, build awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donation, and increase the number of people who sign up to become organ donors on their driver’s license or state identification card. More information is available at donatelifepa.org or facebook.com/DonateLifePennsylvania.
About Gift of Life Donor Program: Gift of Life Donor Program is the non-profit, federally designated organ procurement organization, working with 126 acute care hospitals and 12 transplant centers to serve 11.3 million people in the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware. Thanks to its compassionate community, for the past 15 years, Gift of Life has coordinated the most organ donors in the United States. Its annual donation rate, most recently 61 organ donors-per-million-population, ranks among the highest in the world. Since 1974, Gift of Life has coordinated more than 58,000 organs for transplant, and more than two million tissue transplants have resulted from the generosity of donors and their families. One organ donor can save the lives of up to eight people, and a tissue donor can improve the lives of more than 100 others. For more information or to register, visit donors1.org.
About HAP: HAP is a statewide membership services organization that represents 235 hospitals as well as the patients and communities they serve. Additional information about HAP is available online.