Maimonides Medical Center announced this week that their ECMO Program has been named a Gold Level Center of Excellence in Life Support. The Maimonides Heart & Vascular Institute provides ECMO for support of failing organ systems in critically ill patients.
“We’re delighted to offer Brooklyn yet another advanced life-saving service,” said Maimonides President & CEO Kenneth D. Gibbs. “We’re especially proud to provide ‘ECMO’-to-go, saving patients at other hospitals as well.”
“This is a recognition of our entire top-notch team,” according to Dr. Paul Saunders, cardiothoracic surgeon and Director of the Maimonides ECMO Program. “And we’re proud to work together to get patients through the most critical situations.”
“ECMO is one of the most advanced forms of life support available to patients experiencing acute failure of the cardio-respiratory system,” stated cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Gregory Crooke. “And we’re always happy to work with our colleagues at other hospitals in supplying this critical therapy.”
ECMO, or Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation, allows time for the patient’s lungs and/or heart to heal over a period of time by using a heart-lung machine to deliver oxygen to the blood outside the body, while giving the heart and lungs a rest. Without ECMO, these critical patients risk permanent damage or death.
In addition to supporting over 150 critically ill patients at Maimonides, the Maimonides ECMO team has also treated numerous patients at a dozen hospitals in the region who are in desperate need of advanced life support.
The Gold Level Excellence in Life Support Award is administered by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization, an international non-profit consortium of health care professionals dedicated to the development, evaluation and improvement of ECMO and other innovative therapies for support of failing organ systems.
The Maimonides Heart & Vascular Institute encompasses experts in cardiology, vascular and endovascular surgery, anesthesiology, interventional cardiology, radiology, electrophysiology, critical care, and cardiothoracic surgery. Physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, specialized technicians and therapists, and other healthcare professionals collaborate with referring physicians on the care of each and every patient.
Long known for excellence in cardiovascular care, the Maimonides Heart & Vascular Institute is among the most distinguished in the nation for outstanding patient outcomes. To learn more, call 718-283-8902 or visit www.maimonidesmed.org/heart.
