Northwell Ranks Top In Tri-State Heart Transplants

North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset reported that its heart transplant program led the Tri-State area in one-year patient survival rates. The findings appear in a report from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR). The institute also recorded the shortest median wait time for heart transplants in the region.

Heart patients at Northwell received donor organs in a median of 1.5 months. The national average wait time is 2.1 months. The program also maintained a lower mortality rate for patients waiting on the list compared to both regional and national benchmarks.

Deane Smith, MD, serves as the surgical director for the Center for Heart Failure, Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support. Smith stated that Northwell Health was the only New York state program to rank in the top three for survival on the wait list, speed of donor acquisition, and one-year heart survival. Smith called the results a testament to the care provided by the transplant team.

The lung transplant program reached its 100th procedure on Sept. 17. This milestone came four years after the program began. The program recorded a 100 percent survival rate at 90 days post-transplant. Its one-year survival results also ranked among the best in the region. More than 90 percent of lung transplant patients said they would recommend the program to others.

Northwell’s adult liver transplant program is the largest in the Tri-State area. The team provided deceased donor liver transplants 47 percent faster than the national average. When living donor procedures are included, the program transplanted patients 42 percent faster than the national comparison.

Kidney transplant patients at the institute received organs 55 percent faster than the national average. Three-year survival results for adult kidney patients exceeded those of more than 95 percent of U.S. programs. The pediatric kidney program also recorded the highest one-year graft survival rate in the region.

Nabil Dagher, MD, is the senior vice president and director of the Northwell Transplant Institute. Dagher said the teams work with a shared mission to provide better, more compassionate care daily. The institute is based at North Shore University Hospital and offers adult heart, kidney, liver, lung, and pancreas transplant programs.