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 Lankenau Medical Center with the 2026 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. During the award period, Lankenau had 15 donors, a 67% increase from the same period last year. Notably, the hospital saw a significant rise in donation opportunities during the first half of 2026.
Gift of Life also recognized the following 17 Pennsylvania hospitals that achieved a 100 percent patient referral rate: Bryn Mawr Hospital, Chester County Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Jefferson Abington Hospital, Jefferson Bucks Hospital, Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience, Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, Lankenau Medical Center, Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, Paoli Hospital, Phoenixville Hospital, Riddle Hospital, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, St. Luke’s Grand View Hospital, Temple University Hospital – Jeanes Campus and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
These hospitals were honored during a recent HAP Southeast Connect meeting.
“We are proud to recognize Lankenau Medical Center as a first-time recipient of the Gift of Life Award,” said Richard D. Hasz, Jr., MFS, CPTC, president and CEO of Gift of Life Donor Program. “The hospital’s increase in donor heroes reflects the impact of strong clinical collaboration and a commitment to supporting organ donation as part of compassionate end-of-life care. Lankenau continues to strengthen a culture that honors the wishes of donor heroes and gives hope to patients waiting for a life-saving transplant. We congratulate the entire team on their achievement.”
The collaboration between Gift of Life Donor Program and the clinical team at Lankenau Medical Center 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 Lankenau Medical Center ensure that every opportunity for donation is recognized and every family is supported with compassion.
“We are incredibly honored to receive this recognition from Gift of Life and the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) Southeast Connect,” said Anna Michelle Brandt, MSHA, MBA, president, Lankenau Medical Center. “This award is a testament to our strong collaboration with both organizations, the commitment from our entire hospital team and the extraordinary generosity of donors and their families. Our team works hard to keep the power of donation visible. Organ and tissue donation is one of the most profound gifts one person can give another, and we never lose sight of their generosity.”
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 123 acute care hospitals and 11 transplant centers in its region, as well as hundreds of 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 15,586 donors and 43,108 organs for transplants, the most of any OPO in the country since the start of our national donation system in 1988. In addition, Gift of Life has coordinated more than two million tissue transplants. 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.