Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach Only Hospital in 6-county Area Awarded U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Highest Honors For Organ Donations - 1 of Just 22 Hospitals in U.S. Earning Top Gold Medal Award

LONG BEACH, Calif., Nov. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recognized Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach with its Gold Medal of Honor as one of just 22 hospitals across the U.S. and the only one in a six-county area for excellence in organ donations. Miller Children's is one of just nine children's hospitals in the U.S. and the only one in California additionally honored with a Pediatric Distinction Award for its remarkable efforts in saving lives through organ donations.

Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach is the only hospital achieving the Gold Medal top honors from the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Kern. The HHS top Gold Medal of Honor is awarded to hospitals with an organ donation rate that greatly exceeds standards for excellence. Clinical achievements indicate the hospitals have adopted integrated practices for donations so more lives can be saved through organ transplants.

"This recognition reflects the success of our partnership with OneLegacy and tremendous efforts of our hospital staff who are dedicated to saving and enhancing lives," says Diana Hendel, PharmD, CEO, Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach, Long Beach Memorial and Community Hospital Long Beach. The partnership was energized by the Organ Donation and Transplantation Breakthrough Collaborative launched by U.S Department of Health and Human Services to share best practices.

"Thanks to the generosity of donor families and registered donors, collaboration with hospitals, and OneLegacy's donation professionals, we're answering the needs of nearly 115,000 people nationwide who await life-saving transplants," states Tom Mone, CEO of OneLegacy, a non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ and tissue donation in the greater Los Angeles area. With 200 hospitals, 11 transplant centers and a diverse population of 19 million, OneLegacy is the largest of the 58 federally designated organ recovery agencies in the U.S. and the world. Nationally, 686 hospitals met the standards to be considered for meeting and exceeding criteria in one or more categories.

Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach, part of MemorialCare Health System, is the nation's seventh largest children's hospital in patient admissions. Only 5% of hospitals are children's hospitals, making them unique to children's health care needs across the region. One of only eight free-standing children's hospitals in California, Miller Children's treats 100,000 children each year through its hospital and outpatient specialty and satellite centers for conditions ranging from common to complex—as well as maternity care for expectant mothers—all under one roof. Miller Children's is renowned for advances in treating fragile newborns with one of the nation's largest and most respected neonatal intensive care units; for its Jonathan Jaques Children's Cancer Center; pediatric cardiology, orthopedics and emergency centers; and rated among the best for treating cystic fibrosis, blood disorders and sickle cell anemia. With its sister teaching hospital Long Beach Memorial on the same campus, Miller Children's patients receive a lifetime of uninterrupted care. Visit MillerChildrens.org, like us on Facebook.com/MillerChildrensHospital and follow us at Twitter.com/MillerChidrens.     

The not-for-profit MemorialCare Health System, an integrated delivery system, includes six top hospitals—Long Beach Memorial, Community Hospital Long Beach, Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach, Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center and Saddleback Memorial Medical Center Laguna Hills and San Clemente; medical groups—MemorialCare Medical Group, Memorial PromptCare and the Independent Practice Association (IPA) Greater Newport Physicians; MemorialCare HealthExpress retail clinics; and numerous outpatient health centers throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties. For information, go to memorialcare.org.

SOURCE Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach; MemorialCare Health System