Four years running, University Health’s liver transplant program voted No.1
For the fourth year in a row, University Health Transplant Institute’s liver program has been named the No. 1 program by INTERLINK, which evaluated the performance of 94 liver transplant programs.
“It stands as a clear testament to their unwavering commitment to excellence across every facet of their program,” said INTERLINK Chairman and CEO John M. Van Dyke in presenting the liver team with INTERLINK’S top honor, its Chairman’s Award.
INTERLINK is an independent transplant network devoted to evaluating transplant excellence. Insurance companies use their findings to determine where transplant patients are likely to have the best recovery.
Excellent patient outcomes and living donors played a role.
In arriving at its choice for the top liver transplant award, INTERLINK considered 32 independently reported criteria including the number of liver transplants performed, how long a patient must wait for a transplant, whether the program accepts patients with more challenging conditions, as well as patient recovery and survival. INTERLINK also considered a program’s expertise and track record in performing transplants with living donor livers, which typically provide the best patient outcomes. This honor follows the liver program receiving national media attention as the first in the country to create an organ exchange that matched seven liver donors with seven recipients.
“This sustained recognition and achievement are a testament to the dedication and collaboration of our multidisciplinary team,” said Patricia Jones, University Health’s vice president for transplant and donation services. “We are especially proud to know that our patients continue to receive the highest standard of care.”
INTERLINK also recognizes kidney and lung programs for excellence.
INTERLINK also named the Transplant Institute’s kidney and lung centers as programs of excellence. It awarded the kidney program, as well as the liver program, with ELITE status, something only about 10% of the top transplant programs have achieved. The kidney transplant program consistently achieves outstanding patient survival rates and is the only transplant center in South Texas offering robotic surgery for living donor kidney transplants. Robotics enables greater surgical precision which speeds patient recovery.
“Success at this level is never coincidental,” said Dr. Richard Freeman, medical director for INTERLINK. “It reflects the dedication and coordination of a highly skilled team working together in one of the most demanding areas of medicine.”
The Transplant Institute’s lung program was honored with SELECT status, a designation earned only by about 25% of the country’s top programs. Since 1987, University Health has performed nearly 800 lung transplants and has some of the longest surviving lung transplant patients in the nation.
