Stephanie Hasyn was a patient at the Albert Einstein Medical Center/Moss Rehab when she choked to death on her feeding tube fluid on the third shift of a holiday weekend, just four days prior to her scheduled discharge from the facility. Subsequently, the healthcare facility personnel failed to take responsibility and did not notify the Gift of Life until several days after Stephanie’s death.  By that time, it was too late to harvest Stephanie’s tissue/organs for donation. To prevent this from occurring again, the medical center initiated a self-imposed re-training.  However, the medical center never provided a reason to the Hasyn family as to why Stephanie’s organs/tissues were not harvested for donation.

It was not until 6 months after Stephanie’s death that the Hasyn family was notified by the Gift of Life that her organs/tissues were not harvested because Albert Einstein Medical Center/ Moss Rehab had failed to notify the Gift of Life in a timely manner of Stephanie’s death.  

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services “each day an average of 79 people receive organ transplants, however, an average of 21 people die each day waiting for transplants that can’t take place because of a shortage of donated organs.” 

With such a shortage of donated organs, errors in the notification/harvesting of available organs/tissues are unacceptable and show not only a negligence in a healthcare facility’s accountability, but also a negligence in the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s to fulfill their responsibilities of upholding Pennsylvania law in this particular instance.  Because of this error, not only were the wishes of Stephanie Hasyn not fulfilled to pay it forward, individuals in need missed the opportunity to receive her organs/tissue. 

Please support the Hasyn family’s request for the Pennsylvania Department of Health to fine the Albert Einstein Medical Center/ Moss Rehab in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania for their violation of Pennsylvania law, Chapter 86: Anatomical Gifts §8617, with the failure to harvest Stephanie Hasyn’s organs/tissues for donation. Furthermore, support the fining of any healthcare facility that fails to honor the request of a patient to have their organs/tissues harvested for donation to someone in need.

Chapter 86: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/20/00.086..HTM