Staff shortage prompts suspension of Oregon’s lone heart transplant center
Oregon’s only heart transplant program has suspended operations for at least two weeks after three cardiologists either left or announced plans to leave Oregon Health & Science University, The Oregonian reported Aug. 27.
Renee Edwards, chief medical officer for OHSU Healthcare in Portland, told the newspaper the transplant team will continue caring for patients who recently received a new heart. But the program will stop accepting donor hearts, evaluating new patients and performing any transplant surgeries for at least 14 days.
"It was not an easy decision to make as the only heart transplant center in Oregon. We feel a tremendous amount of responsibility," Edwards told The Oregonian. "But because our goal is to do the right thing, this pause is to ensure the care of our patients and look to the (recruitment) of additional providers."
According to The Oregonian, the candidates on OHSU’s waitlist can choose to either wait out the inactive period—as long as it may last—or receive help transferring to an out-of-state program.
"What it means is potentially I'm not going to make it," said Dianna Howell, a 58-year-old who has been on the heart transplant list for 13 months. "This situation could be fatal."
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Daniel joined TriMed’s Chicago editorial team in 2017 as a Cardiovascular Business writer. He previously worked as a writer for daily newspapers in North Dakota and Indiana.