CORRECTIVE MEASURES: UMC kidney transplant program recertified - News

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Jun. 02, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

CORRECTIVE MEASURES: UMC kidney transplant program recertified

Hospital increases staff for service

By PAUL HARASIM
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

University Medical Center Transplant Administrator Karen Watnem, surrounded by patient files, said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has fully recertified the hospital's kidney transplant program.
Photo by John Gurzinski.

Last year, federal officials notified University Medical Center that they had to pull the plug on Nevada's only kidney transplant program because of more than 40 deficiencies.

Now, less than eight months later, after pleas from Nevada's congressional delegation and hurried corrective administrative measures kept the then-undermanned program on life support, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has fully recertified the UMC service, which carries out about 60 life-saving procedures each year.

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"We've gone from a staff of four people and one surgeon to a 10-person staff with five surgeons," said Karen Watnem, administrator for the program. "The UMC administration has really worked to make this a success."

The seal of approval for UMC transplants did not surprise 40-year-old George McLaurin Jr., who received a kidney from his sister Valerie in February. Both brother and sister are in excellent condition today.

"We've had no setbacks at all," McLaurin said Monday. "Everything has gone perfectly."

McLaurin and his sister were benefactors of a UMC strategy announced in November that saw the hospital negotiate a one-year, nearly $1 million contract with four surgeons associated with the renowned University of Utah transplant program. The physicians work in Las Vegas on a rotating basis.

About 200 people are on the waiting list for a kidney transplant in Nevada

To continue its transplant program, UMC officials had to explain how surgical capabilities would be improved, develop an effective internal quality assessment and performance improvement program, and describe the program's chain of command.

UMC's transplant program only got a second chance at staying alive after the state's congressional delegation, including then Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., and Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., interceded with federal authorities. The legislators argued that the problems were largely administrative in nature.

Porter and Berkley also argued that the transplant program's supposedly high death rate, reported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to be 50 percent higher than expected, was a statistical anomaly, caused by the suicide of one patient.

UMC Chief Executive Officer Kathy Silver, ecstatic about the recertification, said Monday that before the contract is up with the Utah surgeons, the hospital plans to hire two multi-organ transplant surgeons on a permanent basis.

"That's what we'll need to do the same work," she said.

She said that travel concerns for the Utah surgeons has made it necessary to have, in addition to UMC transplant surgeon Dr. Gary Shen, four transplant surgeons under contract.

"Within two years, it is very possible that we will also be doing kidney-pancreas and liver transplants," she said. "If we do move into liver transplants, we'll also hire a hepatologist."

A hepatologist is a physician who specializes in diseases of the liver.

"In a state our size, the citizens of Nevada deserve a number of transplant services so they don't always have to travel out of state," Silver said.

She added that new billing procedures will allow UMC to run transplant programs within a reasonable budget.

McLaurin said he is heartened by the strides UMC continues to make in the transplant program.

"I know so many people who are waiting at a chance at life," he said. "In this economy it's just not right to ask people to go out of state to get it."

Contact reporter Paul Harasim at pharasim@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2908.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. David J Undis wrote on June 03, 2009 09:50 AM: Your story about Organ Donation and Transplants highlighted the tragic shortage of human organs for transplant operations. Over half of the 100,000 Americans on the national transplant waiting list will die before they get a transplant. Most of these deaths are needless. Americans bury or cremate 20,000 transplantable organs every year. There is a simple way to put a big dent in the organ shortage – give donated organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own organs when they die. Giving organs first to organ donors will convince more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. People who aren't willing to share the gift of life should go to the back of the waiting list as long as there is a shortage of organs. Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at www.lifesharers.org or by calling 1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition. LifeSharers has over 12,000 members at this writing, including 93 members in Nevada . Please contact me - Dave Undis, Executive Director of LifeSharers - if your readers would like to learn more about our innovative approach to increasing the number of organ donors. I can arrange interviews with some of our local members if you're interested. My email address is daveundis@lifesharers.org. My phone number is 615-351-8622. STOP BLAMING THE PATIENTS wrote on June 02, 2009 08:31 PM: Anybody who's worked at an academically affiliated Trauma Center realizes that UMC is the very poor step sister of a real hospital. Many of the medications that kidney transplant patients are on have psychiatric side effects. The suicide of a patient IS A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM! WHEN WILL UMC STOP BLAMING PATIENTS FOR THEIR DISMAL FAILURES??? wow wrote on June 02, 2009 06:21 PM: Shelley Berkley is doing a great job. She isn't my Representative, but I wish she was because she does listen to the people. I wrote to her and asked her to support a bill that was important to me and she did. So, ?_? you're another uninformed idiot. ?_? wrote on June 02, 2009 04:39 PM: Do you think Mrs. Berkley's kidney specialist husband had anything to do with her involvement? LuLu wrote on June 02, 2009 03:57 PM: Congratulations Karen you have really worked hard and you did it!!!!! Sharon wrote on June 02, 2009 01:03 PM: This is a service that is desperately needed here in Las Vegas. We need to strive to be the place to come for healthcare instead of having to go to Utah or California. I'm sure the folks at UMC worked very hard to get the transplant program back up and running. Thank you to them! Michael wrote on June 02, 2009 05:37 AM: Congratulations to UMC CEO Kathy Silver and her staff! This is an impressive achievement for UMC, and credit should go to the people who made this happen.