When a loved one is getting heart surgery, people naturally want the best care possible. For this reason, some people in Delaware may move their family members to special care facilities that specialize in certain procedures. But what if the clinic overseeing these transplants isn’t as competent as it claims? Recent reporting has raised questions about surgical errors in a hospital in another state that is affiliated with a noted heart institute.
According to reports, the hospital once had a heart surgery program that was world-renowned. However, in recent years, there has been an increase in death and unusual complications resulting from transplants. This has made many wonder whether the hospital is taking less care in its procedures.
St. Luke’s Hospital is connected to the Texas Heart Institute. Its previously renowned program’s heart transplant survival rate currently sits at the bottom of the national rankings. Double the patients at this hospital died than would have been expected, a number so extreme that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services threatened to pull funds. The hospital says it has made changes, but patients’ families say that surgical errors and low quality of care are rampant at the hospital.
High death rates are not the only indicators of something amiss at the Houston hospital. Slow recovery and complications such as infections and organ failure meant the average heart recipient stayed in this hospital for 11 more days than the national average. Delaware patients undergoing such serious operations should consider figures such as death rate and average recovery time when selecting a hospital for their surgery. Those who are victims of surgical errors from operations that take place within the state should contact a Delaware attorney.
Source: Houston Chronicle, “At St. Luke’s in Houston, patients suffer as a renowned heart transplant program loses its luster“, Mike Hixenbaugh and Charles Ornstein, May 16, 2018
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