Providence Heart Transplant and VAD Program
Providence Heart Transplant and VAD Program
For patients with severe heart failure, standard medical treatments and lifestyle changes may not be enough to prevent severe symptoms or worsening of overall health. Our experienced team of physicians and clinical professionals can offer eligible patients the latest therapies, including ventricular-assist devices (VAD) and heart transplant.
Our cardiac services provide treatment options to people who have advanced heart failure (heart failure so severe that medications aren’t working). The physicians and clinical professionals who work in this program are all highly skilled and experienced at treating heart disease. In emphasizing quality of care, we focus on providing the best outcome clinically possible for each patient. Our team looks at the whole person and develops an individualized plan and provides close follow-up.
We are a community-based program and work in close collaboration with the referring physicians. We partner with your local cardiologist and primary care team to increase communication in addition to offering telemedicine visits for your convenience.
Patients with heart failure may find benefit in establishing care with the advanced heart failure team early on in the disease process. In some cases, advanced therapies may not be needed for some time, but understanding the options available if the need arises in the future can provide peace of mind.
Providence provides cardiac care for adults who have been diagnosed with heart failure. Patients may be newly diagnosed, or they may have already exhausted the range of treatment options available to them in their communities. This includes patients with the following conditions:
- Cardiogenic shock
- Cardiomyopathy
- Congestive heart failure
- Valvular disorders
- Coronary artery disease that is untreatable by other methods
Heart failure occurs for numerous reasons. Because each person is an individual, each needs a personally tailored treatment plan. Our treatment plans are developed cooperatively, with physician and patient working together to design a care plan best suited to that patient.
Patients may benefit from one or more of these treatment options:
- Outpatient consultations
- National clinical trials of cutting-edge medicines and procedures
- Advanced techniques in cardiovascular surgery
- Heart transplant
- Implantable ventricular assist devices
The Heart Transplant program at Providence has been approved by the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS). Our team includes specialists in transplant medicine, transplant surgery, nutrition, pharmacy, behavioral health, palliative care, social work, cardiac rehabilitation, and other support services who will provide you with personalized care before and after heart transplant.
We are deeply committed to bringing together compassion and innovation in medicine - all from a health care system you can trust.
After a thorough evaluation, our team will review the risks and benefits of various treatment options and determine if heart transplantation is right for you. If accepted as a heart transplant candidate, Providence will register you with the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS). The wait time for a donor organ depends on blood type, body size, urgency, and time on the wait list.
Providence St. Vincent Medical Center is certified by The Joint Commission to provide ventricular assist device therapy as a long-term treatment for patients who are not candidates for heart transplantation (destination therapy).
In addition, we offer VAD as a bridge-to-transplant for patients too ill to wait for a donor heart to become available.
The HeartMate III VAD is currently the only FDA-approved device for both bridge therapy and destination therapy.
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