On Wednesday, May 11, Saint Thomas Health resumed its heart transplant program with a successful procedure performed by renowned cardiothoracic surgeon Ashok N. Babu, MD. The health system received certification to perform heart transplants from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) in April.
The transplant, performed at Saint Thomas West Hospital, was the first in five years by Saint Thomas Health, which is part of Ascension, the nation’s largest non-profit health system and world’s larges Catholic health system.
Babu, who serves as surgical director of the heart transplant program, joined Saint Thomas Health earlier this year. A team of medical personnel performed the transplant on Jim Talbot, a 42-year-old patient from Nashville. “I feel we had a lot of good things in play,” said Babu. “We had a good recipient, a good donor, a great team.” The patient is reported to be doing well following the surgery.
In 1985, Saint Thomas became the first hospital in Tennessee, and the 26th in the United States, to establish a heart transplant program. STH chose to suspend the long-standing program in 2011 after the unexpected loss of key personnel. As the largest heart failure program in the state, STH serves more than 5,000 patients each year in its clinics and hospitals and is currently following more than 20 heart failure patients monthly who might be candidates for a heart transplant.
“We continually hear from our patients that they would prefer to receive their transplant with Saint Thomas Health because of the history and relationship with us,” said STH President & CEO Karen Springer. “The re-launch of our transplant program offers our patients the option of transplant care within our system and also reaffirms our commitment to providing world-class heart care to all of our communities.”
Last year, 2,804 patients in the United States received heart transplants, and more than 4,000 are on the waiting list for a heart. In Tennessee, there are 114 people currently waiting for a heart transplant.
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