St. Mary's Hospital is being awarded for its successful organ and tissue donation and its transplant conversion rates.
This is the second year in a row the hospital has won the award.
The conversion rate is the percentage of actual donors to the total number of potential organ donors. The target rate is set at 63 per cent—St. Mary's achieved a rate of 75 per cent.
This year, St. Mary's recovered 28 organs from six donors, transplanting them into 24 recipients.
"I think that, unfortunately for patients who are going on to pass away, we're just fortunate in that the families here at St. Mary's want to go on to provide that gift of life," explains co-chair of the organ and tissue donation committee, Christine Rottar.
An additional 25 tissue donors helped save the lives of many more people.
St. Mary's is one of 27 Ontario hospitals to receive the award this year, out of 52 eligible hospitals.
"It really is relying upon the families' decision-making or the patient, if they have their wishes known. Then the families are going on to be able to provide that gift."
Ontario has also seen a record number of organ donations and transplants this year: 106 donors saved 388 lives between April 1 and June 30.
