Shands voluntarily inactivates liver and pancreas transplant programs pending surgeon recruitment
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Aug. 22, 2011) - University of Florida and Shands leaders have voluntarily and temporarily inactivated the Shands at UF liver and pancreas transplant programs after the unexpected departure of some key surgeons, who left to take positions with medical centers in larger, more urban cities.
UF and Shands officials began notifying all liver and pancreas transplant patients Friday, the day the programs were inactivated, and as of Monday morning, nearly everyone on the transplant waiting list for these organs had been reached. The transplant teams are helping Shands patients who are awaiting liver or pancreas organ transplants expedite their assignment, if required, to other nearby transplant centers for uninterrupted, ongoing care. Some of these patients may be dually listed temporarily with another transplant center as well as with Shands.
The decision was made to briefly interrupt these two programs so that UF and Shands officials can focus on an aggressive and thorough recruitment process for new personnel to complement the existing liver and pancreas transplant teams. They plan to reactivate the programs once new surgical faculty members are in place, if possible within a few months.
The Shands at UF heart, kidney and lung transplant programs are not affected.
"Our patients and their well-being and care come first," said David Guzick, M.D., Ph.D., UF senior vice president for health affairs and president of the UF&Shands Health System. "We will be there for them every step of the way as we navigate through this transition on the road toward ultimately reinstating these programs. We are actively working to recruit additional talented and committed surgeons to the program so we can resume liver and pancreas transplantation. Meanwhile, our dedicated teams will continue to care for post-transplant patients in these programs."
Officials will work with peer transplant programs and with the United Network for Organ Sharing, or UNOS, to support all patients throughout the transition. UNOS has published guidelines to assist transplant centers that undergo key personnel changes and have to temporarily inactivate their programs, providing support for how to connect with patients and ensure seamless, quality care.
The nearest transplant centers are Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida Hospital in Orlando and Tampa General Hospital.
UF and Shands officials began contacting 125 Shands liver and pancreas transplant patients, 68 of whom are actively listed on UNOS transplant waiting lists, Friday night. Shands has approximately 58 patients actively listed on the UNOS liver transplant waiting list and 10 pancreas transplant patients actively listed on that list, nine of whom are combined kidney-pancreas transplant patients. An additional 50 liver and seven pancreas patients are in the transplant evaluation process.
In 2010, Shands at UF transplant teams performed 43 liver transplants and 16 pancreas or combined kidney-pancreas transplants. Between January and July of this year, 26 patients received a liver transplant and 10 received a pancreas or combined kidney-pancreas transplant.
Leadership hopes to recruit new surgical faculty to the programs quickly and reactivate the two programs as soon as possible in the next few months.
"We were unfortunate to unexpectedly lose three transplant surgeons whose expertise and leadership complemented that of the existing liver and pancreas transplant team, which remains outstanding," said Tim Goldfarb, CEO of Shands HealthCare. "We made the decision to briefly interrupt these two programs so that we can focus on an aggressive and thorough recruitment process. Rounding out our transplant team quickly will prepare us to meet future anticipated transplant demands. It's the right thing to do for our patients so that we can continue our tradition of quality care and outstanding outcomes."
UF surgeons at Shands performed the state's first transplant (kidney) in 1966. Since then, UF and Shands have celebrated many state and regional medical firsts.
"Given the stellar reputation of our transplant program and our long-standing commitment and service to transplant patients from across the state, we are confident we will quickly recruit a top-caliber transplant chief and reopen the liver and pancreas transplant programs with minimal impact to the patients to whom we're committed," said Kevin Behrns, M.D., UF College of Medicine chairman of the department of surgery.
Transplant programs are dependent on a small, focused surgery team and the departure of one team member can have a significant impact on a program, said Michael Good, M.D., dean of the UF College of Medicine.
"This type of staffing challenge, which is not unique nationally within the transplant community, was the catalyst for our decision to temporarily inactivate our liver and pancreas transplant programs," Good said. "We are working as fast as we can to reactivate."
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