Cleveland Clinic Florida Recognized for Higher Quality Transplant Care
September 17, 2018
Media Contacts:
Arlene Allen-Mitchell (954) 659-5028 / allena@ccf.org
Shawn Yanan (305) 962-1768 / shawn.yanan@rbbcommunications.com
Cleveland Clinic Florida Recognized for Higher Quality Transplant Care
WESTON, Fla. – Sept. 17, 2018 – Cleveland Clinic Florida, one of the leading institutes for heart, liver and kidney transplantation in South Florida, has been recognized as a Blue Distinction® Center for Transplants for Adult Liver as part of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association’s Blue Distinction Specialty Care program.
Blue Distinction Centers are nationally designated hospitals that show expertise in delivering improved patient safety and better health outcomes, based on objective measures that were developed with input from the medical community.
“Cleveland Clinic Florida is proud to be recognized by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association for meeting its rigorous quality selection criteria for transplant centers,” said Wael Barsoum, M.D., CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic Florida. “I congratulate our entire transplant team for this achievement and their commitment to delivering the highest caliber organ transplant care.”
Cleveland Clinic Florida received approval from the United Network for Organ Sharing to perform adult liver and kidney transplants in 2013 and adult heart transplants in 2014 and has completed a total of 807 transplants to date. As Broward County’s largest provider of solid organ transplantation, Cleveland Clinic Florida’s Transplant Center completed 220 organ transplantations in the first eight months of 2018, 50 of which were adult liver transplants.
“Our multidisciplinary team of physicians, surgeons, nurses, transplant coordinators, dietitians, pharmacists and social workers work in close collaboration to provide the highest quality care for our patients, and we are very grateful to the donor families who make it possible for us to perform these life-transforming surgeries,” added Cedric Sheffield, MD, Head of Cleveland Clinic Florida's Transplant Center.
Nationwide, more than 114,000 people are on a waiting list for an organ, and nearly 14,000 are awaiting a liver transplant, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Approximately 8,000 liver transplant surgeries were performed in the United States in 2017. The most common reasons for needing a liver transplant include alcoholic liver disease, cancers that start in the liver combined with cirrhosis,
fatty liver disease, and cirrhosis caused by chronic hepatitis C.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies across the nation have recognized more than 130 hospitals as Blue Distinction Centers for Transplants. Hospitals recognized with this designation are assessed using a combination of publicly available quality information and cost measures derived from BCBS companies’ medical claims. More information about the program and a complete listing of the designated facilities are available at bcbs.com/bluedistinction.
For more information about transplantation services and resources at Cleveland Clinic Florida, visit www.clevelandclinicflorida.org or call (954) 659-5133.
About Cleveland Clinic Florida
Cleveland Clinic Florida is a nonprofit, multi-specialty, academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. With locations in Weston, Fort Lauderdale, Coral Springs, Parkland, West Palm Beach, Wellington, and Palm Beach Gardens, Cleveland Clinic Florida has more than 250 physicians with expertise in 55 specialties. The medical campus is fully integrated and includes diagnostic centers, outpatient surgery and a 24-hour emergency department located in the state-of-the-art hospital. Cleveland Clinic Florida ranked #1 among the best hospitals in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro area and fourth in Florida in US News & World Report’s 2018-2019 ranking of Best Hospitals metro area rankings. Cleveland Clinic Florida is an integral part of Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, where providing outstanding patient care is based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Physicians at Cleveland Clinic are experts in the treatment of complex conditions that are difficult to diagnose. For more information about Cleveland Clinic Florida, visit www.clevelandclinicflorida.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Arlene Allen-Mitchell (954) 659-5028 / allena@ccf.org
Shawn Yanan (305) 962-1768 / shawn.yanan@rbbcommunications.com
Cleveland Clinic Florida Recognized for Higher Quality Transplant Care
Blue Distinction Centers are nationally designated hospitals that show expertise in delivering improved patient safety and better health outcomes, based on objective measures that were developed with input from the medical community.
“Cleveland Clinic Florida is proud to be recognized by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association for meeting its rigorous quality selection criteria for transplant centers,” said Wael Barsoum, M.D., CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic Florida. “I congratulate our entire transplant team for this achievement and their commitment to delivering the highest caliber organ transplant care.”
Cleveland Clinic Florida received approval from the United Network for Organ Sharing to perform adult liver and kidney transplants in 2013 and adult heart transplants in 2014 and has completed a total of 807 transplants to date. As Broward County’s largest provider of solid organ transplantation, Cleveland Clinic Florida’s Transplant Center completed 220 organ transplantations in the first eight months of 2018, 50 of which were adult liver transplants.
“Our multidisciplinary team of physicians, surgeons, nurses, transplant coordinators, dietitians, pharmacists and social workers work in close collaboration to provide the highest quality care for our patients, and we are very grateful to the donor families who make it possible for us to perform these life-transforming surgeries,” added Cedric Sheffield, MD, Head of Cleveland Clinic Florida's Transplant Center.
Nationwide, more than 114,000 people are on a waiting list for an organ, and nearly 14,000 are awaiting a liver transplant, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Approximately 8,000 liver transplant surgeries were performed in the United States in 2017. The most common reasons for needing a liver transplant include alcoholic liver disease, cancers that start in the liver combined with cirrhosis,
fatty liver disease, and cirrhosis caused by chronic hepatitis C.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies across the nation have recognized more than 130 hospitals as Blue Distinction Centers for Transplants. Hospitals recognized with this designation are assessed using a combination of publicly available quality information and cost measures derived from BCBS companies’ medical claims. More information about the program and a complete listing of the designated facilities are available at bcbs.com/bluedistinction.
For more information about transplantation services and resources at Cleveland Clinic Florida, visit www.clevelandclinicflorida.org or call (954) 659-5133.
About Cleveland Clinic Florida
Cleveland Clinic Florida is a nonprofit, multi-specialty, academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. With locations in Weston, Fort Lauderdale, Coral Springs, Parkland, West Palm Beach, Wellington, and Palm Beach Gardens, Cleveland Clinic Florida has more than 250 physicians with expertise in 55 specialties. The medical campus is fully integrated and includes diagnostic centers, outpatient surgery and a 24-hour emergency department located in the state-of-the-art hospital. Cleveland Clinic Florida ranked #1 among the best hospitals in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro area and fourth in Florida in US News & World Report’s 2018-2019 ranking of Best Hospitals metro area rankings. Cleveland Clinic Florida is an integral part of Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, where providing outstanding patient care is based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Physicians at Cleveland Clinic are experts in the treatment of complex conditions that are difficult to diagnose. For more information about Cleveland Clinic Florida, visit www.clevelandclinicflorida.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
###
Contact:
Arlene Allen-Mitchell, Director, Communications and Media Relations
allena@ccf.org, (954) 659-5028
