Portland, Ore.-based OHSU announced Sept. 10 it will commission an independent peer review of its heart transplant program, which has been indefinitely suspended since last month.
OHSU President Danny Jacobs, MD, confirmed the independent review in a news release, stating the process will help "ensure the program is sustainable for the long term."
The peer review process will commence in October and is expected to last several months. It will assess the heart transplant program's quality of patient care, supervision of the program, and education, training and supervision of staff. Once the peer review team has been selected, OHSU will provide additional information about the scope, timeline and degree to which information obtained during the review may be shared with the public.
OHSU temporarily suspended its heart transplant program for at least 14 days in August, citing inadequate staffing, as four heart failure transplant cardiologists on the institution's team had left or declared plans to leave by the end of September. OHSU said Aug. 31 the program will remain inactive until those staffing needs are met.
"We are fully committed to reactivating the state's only heart transplant program for patients in Oregon and beyond. To that end, we are aggressively recruiting the specialists needed to provide the full continuum of care," Dr. Jacobs said in the news release.