ENDOWED SUPPORT IN ACTION
THE HEART CENTER The Heart Center at Children’s Health is a pioneer in cardiac care and innovation for thousands of children with congenital or acquired cardiac conditions. 2020 was a milestone year for the Heart Center, which performed its 300th heart transplant and 100th VAD (ventricular assist device) surgery, and it remains as the only pediatric VAD program in North Texas. The Heart Center continues to be a leader in various specialty areas such as interventional MRI-guided catheterization procedures; MRI image processing including the use of utilization of 3D printing and computational modeling; and patient home monitoring programs like Safe at Home.
Philanthropy furthers our commitment to holistic care, including patient family support services, as well as our emphasis on innovative approaches as an academic medical center to research and develop new standards of care in pursuit of clinical excellence.
Endowment funds have supported the Heart Center in a myriad of ways, resulting in many accomplishments and enhancements in 2020 including: PATIENT CARE • 24 heart transplants •P erformed nearly 600 surgeries • Conducted more than 1,000 catheterization procedures • I ncreased patients served in the Fetal Heart program to more than 100 • I mplemented bedside virtual assessments •E xpanded services on the Dallas and Plano campuses •E xpanded neurodevelopment program to support and maximize development for young patients • Incorporated VitalSign6, a mental health screening tool to help providers screen for depression, anxiety and medication nonadherence
RECRUITING, TRAINING AND EDUCATION •S ix cardiology faculty members joined the team • Trained two fourth-year fellows in fetal heart • 100% of the heart transplant team earned their certified transplant coordinator certification • 19 inpatient cardiology resident nurses trained in peritoneal dialysis In 2020, we celebrated our 300th heart transplant with our patient Miles.
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