Shorter wait times, better outcomes
Hume Lee-Transplant Center Response to COVID-19
Prior to the spread of known COVID-19 cases in Virginia, VCU Health's Transplant Center instituted a number of operational changes to ensure safe and effective care before, during and after organ transplantation.
- We have continued to transplant all organs following COVID-19 testing of both recipients and donors. We have transplanted 10 hearts, 79 kidneys and 34 livers at VCU in the first quarter of 2020 — a collective effort recently added by a COVID-19-specific protocol for transplant surgeries and evaluation.
- Team members mobilized quickly to offer telehealth solutions. We have successfully transitioned more than two-thirds of all of our outpatient clinic visits to video or telephone appointments and, where possible, conducted possible kidney transplant evaluations via telehealth and home-lab draws using our community partners.
- Non-essential clinic appointments were reduced, with staff and physicians evaluating appointments 48 hours in advance — contacting patients directly for COVID screening, triaging and rescheduling to meet their health care needs.
- We continue to prioritize our quality, operational improvement and regulatory efforts via technology such as Zoom and WebEx, including routine COVID-19 calls, to fulfill our ongoing commitment and adherence to these initiatives.
- Our team produced this FAQ for patients.
We believe this work has allowed us to continue providing our patients second chances, while mitigating the risk of COVID-19 for patients, staff and communities. As we all work to serve patients during these trying and uncertain times, please do not hesitate to consider us an active patient care partner.
Our outreach team is always willing to assist and provide additional information: Kim Johnson for Kidney at (804) 219-7519; Tierra Yuille for Liver at (804) 297-7670; and Dina Phelps for Heart at (804) 659-1473.
Why choose Hume-Lee for transplant care?
VCU Hume-Lee Transplant Center offers the unique combination of a rich, clinically significant history with innovative, state-of-the-art treatments and superior survival rates to give our patients peace of mind that they are receiving the best possible transplant care.
Our reputation for clinical excellence continues today through the use of advanced technologies by an elite, multi-disciplinary team of experts which allows us to consistently achieve survival rates that exceed the national standards. And with the shortest average wait time in the region, our patients are able to be transplanted earlier in their disease process, allowing for better short- and long-term outcomes.
The Hume-Lee Transplant Center was one of the first transplant centers in the country, and continues to be one of the busiest and most successful transplant centers today, offering a full range of services including living organ donation and pediatric transplantation.
Collaborative Care
The Hume-Lee team extends beyond our board certified transplant surgeons, transplant nephrologists and hepatologists. Our patients have seamless and convenient access to VCU Ancillary Services such as interventional radiology, vascular radiology, surgery, oncology, and transplant infectious disease. Our dedicated transplant pharmacist and dietician ensure that our patients’ pharmacological and nutritional needs are met with a specific focus on pre- and post-transplant care. This collaborative approach allows us to align and prioritize therapies to maximize outcomes and survival for our patients.
Commitment to Research Leads to Advanced Techniques
Hume-Lee’s strong commitment to research leads to the development and mastery of advanced treatments that allow us to treat difficult cases often deemed too risky by other centers. Our patients benefit from our use of cutting-edge desensitization techniques, our nationally-recognized HLA lab, and innovative surgical techniques such as robotics-assisted surgery that allow us to successfully draw from an expanded pool of donors and ultimately transplant more patients.
Patient and Graft Survival
Patient outcomes are our top priority and main driver behind our research and collaboration efforts. Hume-Lee’s patient and graft survival rates continue to rank above the national average, as noted by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients at www.srtr.org.
Convenient Locations
Patient satisfaction is a priority at Hume-Lee, and with that in mind we are continuing to expand our clinic locations to include south of Richmond in Stony Point, north in Fredericksburg, east of the city at our William & Mary location, with more to come in other areas of the state. These locations offer access to our expert team with the added benefit of free, convenient parking and shorter clinic wait times.