CORE reports organ donations on rise in 2021, providing nearly 700 live-saving transplants

PITTSBURGH — When patients across western Pennsylvania were in need of organ donations last year, data is showing that local communities took the initiative and stepped up to the challenge.

The Pittsburgh-based Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE) reported that organ, tissue and cornea donations broke multiple records in the region throughout 2021. Community members were able to save lives in 2021, with 325 organ donors helping to provide nearly 700 transplants last year.

“As we continued to persevere amid the pandemic in 2021, we leaned heavily on our hospital partners to make this record-breaking year possible,” said Susan Stuart, president and CEO of CORE. “The combined efforts of their teams and our own, along with the generosity of our donors and their families who said yes to organ donation, gave hundreds of recipients a second chance at life."

Of these 325 organ donations, 10 donors were over the age of 75, a demographic that is often overlooked in the organ donation process. One of these patients also broke records, with 95-year-old Cecil F. Lockhart of Welch, W.Va., becoming the oldest organ donor in the history of the United States.

In addition to organ donation, CORE broke records in 2021 after receiving 1,315 tissue donations throughout the year. Cornea donations also rose by 47% in the past year, with 664 donors helping to restore sight to over 99,000 patients.

Some donations were also made for research purposes, with CORE researchers seeing a 37% increase in organ donations and a 13% increase for tissue donations intended for study. According to their research teams, these donors' contributions will help provide solutions for those facing organ failure and other diseases for years to come.

“As a 2019 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winner, we hold ourselves to the highest levels of performance excellence,” Stuart said. “Part of that excellence is ensuring our efforts have a longstanding impact in the communities we serve, which is why research is such an important aspect of our organization. We are grateful to the donors and hospital partners who helped achieve the strides we saw in 2021.”

Overall, CORE said that they were able to save and heal over 100,000 patients thanks to the donations in 2021, which was 10% more than in 2020.

Garret Roberts is the local Public Priority reporter for The Beaver County Times. He can be contacted at groberts1@gannett.com and can be followed on Twitter at @ReportedRoberts.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: CORE reports organ donations break records for western PA region in 2021