The University Hospital Heart Transplant Program Reactivates

Contact: Emily Evans or Erika Turan (513) 585-7200
02/04/2002

The Heart Transplant program at The University Hospital reactivated today, after temporarily closing in February 2001. The program can perform transplants immediately, contingent upon suitable donors and recipients.

The program will be supported by Jeffrey Pearl, M.D., surgical director of the adult heart transplant program at The University Hospital, and Lynne Wagoner, M.D., medical director of heart transplantation.

"We are extremely pleased to once again offer this significant service to Greater Cincinnati," said Edward Zavala, Health Alliance transplant administrator.

The University Hospital's transplant program celebrated its 15th anniversary in 1999. As the region's first and only adult heart transplant center, the program's one-year transplant survival rate exceeds 90 percent, according to United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) statistics. It is one of the most active and successful heart transplant centers in the nation, performing 302 heart transplants to date. </p><br>