More than 100 heart transplants performed at Northwell

This week Northwell Health celebrated a milestone, having performed more than 100 heart transplants since the program first launched in 2018.

To celebrate, cardiac doctors, surgeons, nurses and therapists gathered at Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset.

Northwell’s organ-transplant program began in 2007 with a kidney transplant, and grew to include heart, liver and lung transplants over the last five years. The program has served patients in the region, including on Long Island and Queens, whose residents “can receive a complex continuum of care close to home,” according to a news release from the health system.

“At Northwell, we have more than 300 cardiologists who participate in the care of about 25 percent of all New Yorkers who need cardiac care,” Dr. Jeffrey Kuvin said in a statement.

The Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital, he said, is the “quaternary cardiac hub of Northwell Health. We are committed to the highest quality of cardiac care, using the latest and most advanced medications, therapies and procedures, with a patient-focused, team-based approach.”

To mark the occasion and highlight April as Donate Life Month, the health system welcomed home Yvonne Johnson, the hospital’s first heart transplant recipient, and Dr. James Jones, who received a new heart and two lungs four months ago.

Jones, who is turning 70 in May, had completed his residency at North Shore University Hospital in 1988. He spent 20 years providing care for HIV patients in New York City. He was then recruited by a large pharmaceutical firm to run an HIV trial for a drug in development. He performed this function for nearly 15 years.

“I admit that I started smoking when I was 14,” Jones said in a statement. “Even though I quit the habit 20 years ago, the damage was done. About four years ago, I began to exhibit symptoms. I was referred here and was diagnosed with COPD and pulmonary fibrosis.

“I’m so grateful to be here to give thanks to my medical team and all the people who gave me a second chance at life,” he added. “I also want to thank my donor and their family. I often reflect on what has happened to me. Thanks to the team here, I never felt that I was going through it alone.”

Johnson was awakened from a nightmare and found herself in the midst of a real one: She suffered a massive and debilitating heart attack in 2017.

“It all happened really quickly after that,” Johnson said. “I was brought to the hospital, after being told that I had literally died twice. Then on February 9, 2018, I learned from the cardiac team that I would be a candidate for the first heart transplant surgery to be performed” at Northwell.

Just 10 days later, Johnson received a new heart. In recognition of Donate Life month, Ms. Johnson held up a Build-A-Bear dressed in her signature red and gold hoop earrings. When she pressed on its paw, the sound of a beating heart could be heard throughout the auditorium.

“This sound,” Johnson said, “is the gift of life. I want to encourage everyone to become an organ donor. No one can ever know if they’ll suddenly need a transplant. Please don’t hesitate – you could be saving a life.”

Celebrating with their patients were Dr. Aldo Iacono, medical director of Lung Transplantation, Northwell; Dr. Maria Avila, director of Heart Transplantation and Mechanical Support, Northwell; and Dr.  Zachary Kon, surgical director of Heart and Lung Transplantation, Northwell.

“It is a great honor and privilege for all of us to do what we do – to be able to help people who were told that they were facing the end of the road,” Kon said. “This is literally what our program is about, and I’m so proud of the entire team.”

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