MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center Teams with Region’s Top Transplant Experts

Patients Meet MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute Team via Telehealth

BALTIMORE, Md.—(April 6, 2018)— Baltimore-area patients in end-stage liver failure, or with an advanced liver disease are benefiting from the expertise of the lauded team at MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute (MGTI)– without driving to Washington, D.C., Using teleconferencing technology, patients engage in real-time dialogue with the full range of experts necessary for liver transplant evaluations and post-operative visits at the MedStar Franklin Square Center for Digestive Disease.

MedStar Franklin Square began offering pre-transplant evaluation once a week with an on-site hepatologist and the MGTI team via telehealth last year. Full-time in-house patient consultation with one of the Institute’s premier liver specialists, Dr. Thomas Faust, was made available in January. 

The liver transplant program at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., is among the nation’s top liver transplant centers for patients of all ages. Compared to other transplant programs in the region, it boasts superior one-year survival rates across all types of organ transplants and has the highest adult one-year patient survival in the Baltimore and Washington metro areas. MedStar Health patients on the organ wait list are transplanted in a shorter time frame than patients anywhere else in the region – eight months, compared to more than 14 months on average.

“Liver transplantation is a very complex, rigorous procedure, where positive results rely on meticulous screening and evaluation,” said Anne P. Weiland, vice-president of Surgery, Orthopaedics and Neurosciences for MedStar Health. “The process is a commitment for all parties, and the patient-expert dialogue that must take place can be challenging for patients. The added convenience of the new site at MedStar Franklin Square facilitates patients’ personal interaction with the team and ensures close management of the myriad details involved in their clinical care.”

Patients on the wait list for a liver transplant typically need multiple pre-operative appointments, scheduled at intervals ranging from every two weeks to every three months depending on the degree of liver impairment - to monitor their liver function. With the new services at MedStar Franklin Square, patients need only travel to MedStar Georgetown for the transplant itself, and for initial post-operative follow up. All other visits can take place locally.

The highly experienced MGTI team transplants a high proportion of the very sickest patients and performs some of the most complex procedural approaches in the country. It has one of the highest volumes of liver transplants in the US, performing 125 procedures in the calendar year 2017, with superior outcomes.

MedStar Health has about a dozen patients awaiting a liver transplant at this time. Patients may be candidates for liver transplant based on a variety of causes, including cirrhosis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, cancer, infection, autoimmune disease, and overdose on certain medications.

About MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center
MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center is a not-for-profit 378-bed community teaching hospital located in the White Marsh section of eastern Baltimore County, Maryland. MedStar Franklin Square provides many medical and healthcare services, including a broad range of healthcare specialties, advanced technologies, and treatments not traditionally found at community hospitals. The hospital is ranked third in admissions among all Maryland hospitals and is first in Emergency Department visits with more than 108,000 visits annually. MedStar Franklin Square is accredited by the Joint Commission, certified as a Primary Stroke Center and has earned some of the nation’s most prestigious quality awards including Magnet Designation for excellence in nursing, the Excellence Award for Quality Improvement from the Delmarva Foundation and inclusion in the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospital specialty ranking for four consecutive years. With more than 3,300 employees, MedStar Franklin Square is one of the largest employers in Baltimore County. Visit medstarfranklin.org for more information.

About MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute

MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute is part of MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, providing hope and life-restoring care to patients with end-stage organ failure. As one of the highest volume transplant programs in the United States, liver, kidney, small bowel, and multi-organ transplants are all performed at MGTI.  It is also a leader in hepatobiliary surgery, as well as offers auto islet cell transplantation for those patients suffering from the pain of chronic pancreatitis.

Its one-year adult and pediatric graft survival rates are higher than any other transplant center in the mid-Atlantic region.  The Transplant Institute’s multidisciplinary team of nationally known surgeons and medical specialists, transplant coordinators, social workers and dieticians is committed to guiding and supporting patients and their loved ones through the transplant process and offering patients their best chance for recovery and an improved quality of life.

 MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute has outpatient sites for kidney and liver transplant evaluation across the Baltimore-Washington including at its area hospitals as well as in Fairfax, Virginia and in Frederick, Ellicott City and Annapolis, Maryland. Visit www.medstargeorgetown.org/transplant for more information.