TEMPLE, Texas — Ahead of World Heart Day, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Temple is celebrating completing 100 successful heart transplants since the program began in Temple in 2010
Roughly 5.7 million people in the U.S. are living with heart failure, a type of heart and vascular disease in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs.
Donor recipient James Denton was a heart failure patient at Baylor Scott in Temple when he found out he was in need of a heart transplant for a better chance at living longer.
After getting a heart from an organ donor, Baylor's medical staff worked with James through the road to recovery. James says he wouldn't be here without their support.
"I didn't expect their to bee a full blown transplant clinic in Central Texas, that actually caught me off guard. The people and the clinic and the people apart of the program are absolutely phenomenal. The cardiac ICU nurses and PA team were just incredible they were there with me every step of the way, incredibly helpful phenomenal human beings," Denton shared.
Baylor Scott in Temple is the only heart transplant program between Dallas and Austin and has wait times significantly lower than the national average.
According to Baylor's website, he heart transplant program brings together the collective expertise of specialists with extensive experience in transplant surgery and medicine. Our multidisciplinary integrated team approach to patient care is ideally suited to the complex problems presented by heart failure and heart transplant patients.
One of Baylor's nurse practitioners Tammie Generette says the location of the heart transplant program is one of the many things special about the hospital.
"One of the reasons we were so excited about reestablishing the program is because of the need of the community. Our concern was being able to provide care for people who are extremely ill. It's an awesome opportunity but it does take a lot to ensure a lot of communication, a lot of working together a lot of collaboration to ensure that we're communicating completely thorough to make sure we're taking care of the main person or the main people which is the patient and their families," Generette explained.
Denton plans to celebrate World Heart Day this year and celebrate being alive thanks to his organ donor.