100 Area Patients Diagnosed Annually with Life-Threatening Lung Disease
Oak Lawn, Ill. – Residents in the Chicago area can breathe a bit easier now.
That’s because Advocate Christ Medical Center’s Heart, Vascular and Transplant Institute has secured two of the nation’s top lung transplant specialists to address an underserved population of patients who need new lungs, but are forced to travel out of state for care.
Christ Medical Center has launched the state's newest lung transplant program and the first for Chicago's south, southwest and western suburbs. The new lung program was recently designated by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
“We are excited knowing that our medical center offers a broader, comprehensive approach to caring for heart, kidney and now lungs,” says Ken Lukhard, president of Christ Medical Center. “This furthers our commitment to the community to be one of the finest, fully comprehensive tertiary and quaternary hospitals in the state and a Transplant Center of Excellence.”
At least 100 patients in the Chicago area annually require lung transplantation, and many of these patients must go out of state for their care, according to cardiothoracic surgeon, Sinan Simsir, M.D. In fact, only about 30-50 lung transplants are performed annually in Illinois, a state with a population of 13 million, according to UNOS.
“To put it in perspective, approximately 60 lung transplant programs are active in the country, performing an estimated 1,800 transplants a year, and as few as 11 of these programs perform 50 or more transplants annually,” says Dr. Simsir, who serves as surgical director of the lung transplant program at Christ Medical Center’s Heart, Vascular and Transplant Institute. “I think our medical center is primed to become one of the top programs in the country, not only in size and volume, but in outcomes and contributions to the field as well.”
The transplant team is being led by Charles Alex, M.D., specialist in pulmonary and critical care medicine. Dr. Alex is the former medical director of the lung transplant program at Loyola University Medical Center.
“Adding another lung transplant program to the Chicago area will better serve those patients with end-stage lung disease,” says Dr. Alex. “We hope to make a quick impact, and are already listing patients for transplant.”
Dr. Alex has more than 25 years of transplant experience and is board-certified in internal medicine, pulmonary disease and critical care medicine. He is a member of the American Thoracic Society, American College of Chest Physicians, the Society of Critical Care Physicians and the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation.
The lung transplant team has extensive experience and takes a multidisciplinary team approach to care. The team includes: clinical and surgical transplant specialists, nurse coordinators, infectious disease and endocrine specialists, clinical pharmacists, psychologists, social workers, a nutritionist, financial counselor and a host of other experts.
In 2013, Christ Medical Center performed nearly 20 heart transplants and implanted more than 100 left ventricular assist devices (heart pumps).
“Our commitment to solid organ transplantation is reflected in our success in heart transplantation,” said Gina Roache, executive director of the Heart, Vascular and Transplant Institute. “And, our clinical outcomes consistently top national benchmarks.”
The lung program will be housed in the campus’ new, state-of-the-art Outpatient Pavilion, which opened in late March of this year.
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About Advocate Christ Medical Center
Advocate Christ Medical Center is part of Advocate Health Care, which is one of the nation’s leading health care networks. A not-for-profit, 694-bed, premier teaching institution with more than 1,200 affiliated physicians, Christ Medical Center is a leader in health care and one of the major referral hospitals in the Midwest in a number of specialties, including cardiovascular services, heart, kidney and lung transplantation, neurosciences, oncology, orthopedics and women’s health. The hospital also has one of the busiest Level I trauma centers in Illinois providing emergency care for more than 100,000 patient visits annually and is a leader in breakthrough technologies, including eICU® (electronic intensive care unit) monitoring, robotic da Vinci Surgery System® and CyberKnife® Radiosurgery. For the last three years (2012-2014), the medical center has been named to the Truven Health 100 Top Hospitals® list. U.S. News & World Report has ranked the medical center among the nation’s leading providers for cardiology and heart surgery and for geriatric medicine and ranked it overall as being among the top hospitals in Illinois. The hospital is also recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) as a Magnet Center. Magnet status represents the highest honor in the nursing profession. To obtain more information or to visit our newsroom, log on to: www.advocatehealth.com/christ.