For its lifesaving care of patients with severely injured hearts and lungs, University of Virginia Medical Center has earned the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization’s Platinum Level Center of Excellence Award, the international group’s highest honor. Fewer than 30 hospitals worldwide have earned this award.
“This award highlights teamwork that stretches across the medical center, including the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at UVA Children’s, to provide excellent care for patients of all ages,” said UVA thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon Nicholas Teman, MD.
UVA received the award for its program to provide advanced life support through Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), a continuous heart-lung machine that can provide weeks of support for patients with serious or life-threatening heart or lung conditions. Injured lungs cannot provide sufficient oxygen to the body, while injured hearts cannot provide sufficient blood flow to the body. ECMO takes over these critical functions, keeping patients alive while allowing injured hearts and lungs to recover. UVA has used ECMO since 1991 to help save the lives of patients of all ages, including some patients diagnosed in recent months with COVID-19.
About the Award
Hospitals that receive the Platinum Level Center of Excellence Award demonstrate an exceptional commitment to evidence-based processes and quality measures, staff training and continuing education, patient satisfaction and ongoing clinical care, according to the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization.
“This award reflects countless hours of dedicated effort by our team to meet the standards for quality patient care set out by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization, as well as our team’s work to constantly enhance the care we provide for our patients and their families,” said Carol Ann Rosenberg, MBA, BA, CCP, UVA’s Associate Director of Perfusion and ECLS.
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