YNHCH only Connecticut hospital certified to perform pediatric heart transplants
In the specialized YNHCH Heart Center operating room are (l-r): Peter J. Gruber, MD, PhD, Jeremy Asnes, MD, and T-Y Hsia, MD.
Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital recently became the first Connecticut hospital certified by the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) to perform pediatric heart transplants. UNOS serves as the nation’s organ procurement and transplantation network under federal contract.
Last summer, YNHCH, in collaboration with Yale School of Medicine and its clinical practice Yale Medicine, recruited world-renowned leaders in pediatric cardiac surgery. T-Y Hsia, MD, is Yale Medicine’s new chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at YNHCH and professor of Surgery at Yale School of Medicine; and Peter J. Gruber, MD, PhD, is YM’s associate chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at YNHCH and professor of Surgery at YSM. They join Jeremy Asnes, MD, YM’s director, Cardiac Catheterization Lab at YNHCH and associate professor of Cardiology, YSM, and the rest of the new YNHCH Heart Center team.
Children and families now have access to the best in pediatric cardiac care close to home. In addition, adults with congenital heart disease requiring heart transplants will receive the best care possible through a collaboration between pediatric and adult heart transplant physicians and surgeons. By combining all the specialists’ expertise within the new Children’s Heart Center, YNHCH is now the only destination for comprehensive heart care for newborns, infants and children in Connecticut.
A full spectrum of medical and surgical treatments for children with congenital heart defects, cardiomyopathy and other heart conditions round out the team’s expertise.
“We’re treating not just the patient but the family, to help parents understand their child's medical condition, what can be expected from surgery and the entire care process,” said Dr. Hsia. “We partner with families to reduce the stress of having a critically ill child.”
