Renowned transplant program suspends operations

HOUSTON — A Houston hospital has suspended all medical procedures in its renowned heart transplant program following the deaths this year of at least three patients and the departure of several senior physicians.

Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center said Friday the transplant program will be inactive for 14 days as administrators assess what’s gone awry.

The decision follows a series of joint reports by the Houston Chronicle and ProPublica revealing an unusually high number of patient deaths in recent years.

The program’s inactive status means it will turn away all donor hearts during the suspension.

“Although extensive reviews are conducted on each unsuccessful transplant, the recent patient outcomes deserve an in-depth review before we move forward with the program,” Doug Lawson, CEO of Catholic Health Initiatives Texas Division, which owns St. Luke’s, said in a statement.

The decision punctuates a dramatic fall for one of the nation’s most respected heart transplant programs. It was at St. Luke’s that famed surgeon Denton Cooley performed some of the world’s first heart transplants back in the 1960s.

But staffers have recently raised concerns to hospital leaders about the program’s direction under Dr. Jeffrey Morgan, its surgical director since 2016, according to the Chronicle and ProPublica. Morgan did not respond to requests for comment.