Published Nov. 2025
PHILADELPHIA, PA – Gift of Life Donor Program – the organ procurement organization for the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware – and the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) Southeast Connect, recently honored Jefferson Torresdale Hospital with the 2025 Gift of Life Award. This prestigious annual award is given to a hospital with superior performance in organ donation that has either achieved a 75 percent organ donation conversion rate during the past year or that has dramatically improved their performance.
Gift of Life also recognized the following 16 Pennsylvania hospitals that achieved a 100 percent patient referral rate: Bryn Mawr Hospital, Chester County Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Doylestown Hospital, Grand View Hospital, Jefferson Abington Hospital, Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience, Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, Lankenau Medical Center, Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, Nazareth Hospital, Paoli Hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Riddle Hospital and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children.
These hospitals were honored during a recent HAP Southeast Connect meeting.
“This is the fourth time Jefferson Torresdale Hospital has earned the Gift of Life Award — a testament to their strong culture of donation and commitment to saving lives,” said Richard D. Hasz, Jr., MFS, CPTC, president and CEO of Gift of Life Donor Program. “Their team embraces the mission of organ donation with passion and purpose. At every level, Jefferson Torresdale demonstrates the power of leadership and clinical expertise in supporting organ donation as part of compassionate end-of-life care. We are proud to celebrate Jefferson Torresdale’s work to help create a heroic legacy for donors and a future of hope for those waiting.”
The collaboration between Gift of Life Donor Program and the clinical team at Jefferson Torresdale Hospital exemplifies how leadership, education, and shared commitment strengthen the culture of donation. Through active engagement from hospital leadership, an interdisciplinary Donation Council, routine orientation and ongoing staff education, regular case review and follow up, and continuous collaboration and process improvement, medical professionals at Jefferson Torresdale Hospital ensure that every opportunity for donation is recognized and every family is supported with compassion.
As part of its commitment to donation, Jefferson Torresdale is the first hospital to display a digitally created memorial quilt in a prominent space to honor heroes who gave the gift of life at their facility.
“This award recognizes the excellence, dedication and compassion of our entire team at Jefferson Torresdale,” said Brian Sweeney, RN, MAB, FACHE, President, North Region – Jefferson Health. “Organ donation is among the most profound gifts we can facilitate in healthcare — creating life out of loss through the generosity of donor heroes and their families. Through our strong partnership with Gift of Life Donor Program, we are proud to support families in their most difficult moments and provide a second chance at life for those on the transplant waitlist.”
Gift of Life Donor Program
Gift of Life Donor Program, founded in 1974 and headquartered in Philadelphia, is the federally designated organ procurement organization (OPO) for the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware serving 11.3 million people. It works with 124 acute care hospitals and 12 transplant centers in its region, as well as more than 100 transplant centers throughout the country, to provide the most comprehensive array of services available in the U.S. to the donation and transplantation community. Thanks to the generosity of its community, Gift of Life has coordinated 14,860 donors and 41,140 organs for transplant, the most of any OPO in the country since the inception of our national donation system in 1988. Overall, Gift of Life has coordinated more than 62,000 organs and more than two million tissue transplants since its founding. One organ donor can save the lives of up to eight people and a tissue donor can improve the lives of 100 others. Learn more and sign up at donors1.org.