2 hospitals vie for pediatric heart transplant
Two Central Florida children’s hospitals are vying to establish a pediatric heart transplant program, less than a year after one of them applied and was turned down by the state.
Orlando Health and Nemours Children’s Hospital have filed separate letters of intent with the state as a first step in a monthslong process in Florida’s certificate of need program.
Their applications may draw the opposition of the four existing pediatric heart transplant programs, none of which are in Central Florida.
Nemours and Orlando Health each say the region would benefit from such a program — and each hospital says it’s well-suited for it.
“Arnold Palmer Hospital’s plan to establish a heart transplantation program that reflects our commitment to meet the healthcare needs of the community,” said hospital spokeswoman Alayna Curry in a statement. “Our pediatric cardiac program is well positioned to support a transplantation program, allowing us to provide more critical heart care for our children.”
Dana Bledsoe, president of Nemours Children’s Hospital, said in a statement the hospital is already approved for the region’s only pediatric lung transplantation program.
“While we were not approved to begin a heart transplant program, we have continued to have a productive dialogue with the state and shared that we feel strongly that Nemours has the team and resources to bring this life-saving care to our community,” she wrote.
Orlando Health was a vocal opponent when Nemours applied for a pediatric heart program last year. The state eventually denied Nemours’ application.
The two also have quite an age difference. Orlando Health has the oldest pediatric heart program in Central Florida while Nemours established its program less than two years ago.
Florida Hospital, the other major health system in Central Florida, also has an established pediatric heart program without heart transplants, but it’s been mum about its competitors’ applications.
The Agency for Health Care Administration will review documents and applications in the coming months to make a decision, but it’s highly unlikely that it will approve both applications, if any at all.
Nemours first applied for a pediatric heart transplant program last year, not long after getting its heart surgery program off the ground.
It also applied for a lung transplant program.
The state approved its lung transplant program but denied the heart application, saying the hospital failed to show that there’s a need for a new pediatric heart transplant program in Central Florida, and that Nemours’ cardiac surgery program was too young to have the patient load required to apply. Although Nemours had received the support of major groups like the American Heart Association, it was criticized by a few hospitals in Florida, one of which was Orlando Health.
So far this year, the four hospitals that perform pediatric heart transplants in Florida — in St. Petersburg, Miami, Gainesville, and Hollywood — have reported a total of 25 procedures.