“Big” Accomplishment For Heart Transplant Team at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas

Surgical team performs 100th heart transplant

Just 14 months after adding a new surgical heart transplantation team to its medical staff, Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas has completed 100 heart transplants.

According to 2013 data from the Organ Procurement Transplantation Network, Baylor University Medical Center’s program is the largest heart transplant program in Texas by volume and the fourth largest in the country.

Patients wait a median of 14 days to receive a heart transplant at Baylor (for status IA patients, those with the highest priority). Before the new surgical heart transplantation team was added, patients waited a median of 24 days to receive a heart transplant.

In addition to an expanded heart transplantation program, Baylor offers patients with severe heart failure an expanded portfolio of interventions. Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas was the nation's first hospital to receive the Gold Seal of Approval™ from The Joint Commission for the Ventricular Assist Device program, an accreditation that is renewed every two years. The Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas is actively implanting these systems, either as a bridge to transplantation or as destination therapy for those who are not candidates for transplant.

Now, the mechanical circulatory support program also offers extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO. “Unlike temporary LVADs, which support only the left ventricle, ECMO can support both heart ventricles, as well as the lungs,” explains Shelley Hall, MD, medical director of heart transplantation at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. ECMO may be used to stabilize a patient, allowing physicians to determine if he or she is a candidate for a longer-term option, such as an implantable ventricular assist device, transplant or total artificial heart.  

Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas is a location for a set of “B” and “G” letters that are part of the ongoing branding campaign that the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau is doing for the City of Dallas. The letters are currently located at 3410 Worth Street. Employees, patients, family and friends are invited to take their picture as the “I” between the “B” and “G” letters and to share the photos on social media.

Photos on twitter and instagram can be tagged with @BaylorHealth and the hashtag #DallasBIG, and can also be posted directly to the Baylor Health Care System facebook page: Facebook.com/BaylorHealth

* based on unaudited fiscal year 2013 financial statements

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MEDIA CONTACT:
Julie Smith
Julie.Smith2@BaylorHealth.edu
972-800-4060

Physicians are members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Health Care System's subsidiary, community, or affiliated medical centers and are neither employees nor agents of those medical centers or Baylor Health Care System.

About Baylor Scott & White Health
As the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, Baylor Scott & White promotes the health and well-being of every individual, family and community it serves. It is committed to making quality care more accessible, convenient and affordable through its integrated delivery network, which includes the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and its leading digital health platform – MyBSWHealth. Through 51 hospitals and more than 1,200 access points, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple, the system offers the full continuum of care, from primary to award-winning specialty care. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White today serves more than three million Texans. For more information, visit: BSWHealth.com