Nashville, Tenn.-based Saint Thomas Health, a member of St. Louis-based Ascension Health, has brought back its heart transplant program after receiving certification to perform heart transplants from the United Network for Organ Sharing.
Here are five things to know about the relaunch.
1. Kyle Stribling, MD, with Saint Thomas Heart, will serve as the medical director of the heart transplant program, and Ashok N. Babu, MD, will serve as surgical director of the program. Dr. Babu recently joined Saint Thomas Health from the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver.
2. Saint Thomas Heart serves more than 5,000 patients each year in Saint Thomas Health clinics and hospitals, and is currently following more than 20 heart failure patients monthly, according to a news release. These patients may be candidates for a heart transplant once they are strong enough to receive one. Officials expect the first heart transplant surgery to be performed at Saint Thomas West Hospital in Nashville within the next six months.
3. The health system suspended its heart transplant program in 2011 after the unexpected loss of key personnel, officials said.
4. Saint Thomas Health also plans to enhance its capabilities in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a technique that provides temporary respiratory and cardiac support for a person whose heart and/or lungs are not working well enough to maintain life, officials said.
5. A. Brian Wilcox, Jr., MD, chief physician executive at Saint Thomas Heart, said of the relaunch, "We're pleased to have this opportunity to relaunch our transplant program in order to further serve our patients, many of whom have seen the same Saint Thomas Heart physicians for years, know them and trust them with their care."
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