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Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento is the only hospital in Northern California to have this certification.
Destination therapy is an alternative to transplantation for patients with end-stage heart failure who do not qualify or are ineligible for heart transplant. By implanting a long-term VAD, patients who are not candidates for a heart transplant have the opportunity to live more independently with a longer and higher-quality life.
Heart failure patients throughout California, southern Oregon and western Nevada who qualify for an LVAD as destination therapy would be implanted at Sutter Medical Center’s Sutter Memorial Hospital campus in east Sacramento. The LVAD, which performs the pumping for the heart, is implanted into the abdomen, allowing patients to pursue their regular daily activities.
"Heart failure patients now have another viable option to extend and improve the quality of their lives through the use of the LVAD as destination therapy," said Robert Kincade, M.D., medical director of the VAD Program at the Sutter Heart & Vascular Institute. "With this certification, Sutter Medical Center provides the most comprehensive and extensive cardiac services in Northern California."
The LVAD certification comes on the heels of the recertification of Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento's Heart Transplant Program. It is the only hospital to provide heart transplants in Northern California outside of the Bay Area.
A landmark Columbia University trial early this decade found that end-stage heart failure patients who received an LVAD device had a 52.1 percent chance of surviving a year, compared with a 24.7 percent survival rate for patients who took drugs and were medically monitored. At two years, the likelihood of survival was 22.9 percent for the LVAD patients vs. 8.1 percent for those receiving medical therapies. In addition, patients reported significant improvements in their quality of life after receiving the LVAD.
LVADs have improved since that Columbia trial, and other LVADs that may extend the life of heart failure patients five to seven years are currently under review by the FDA for destination therapy.
As part of the Joint Commission certification process, a hospital’s program undergoes an extensive, announced, on-site evaluation by a joint commission reviewer every two years. The program is evaluated against stringent Joint Commission standards through an assessment of a program’s processes, the program’s ability to evaluate and improve care within its own organization, and interviews with patients and staff. The survey report stated, "As a result of the certification review conducted on the above date(s), there are no review findings identified," indicating that there were no recommendations for improvement for the program.
"This certification means Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento does the right things and does them well for VAD and destination therapy patients," said Jean E. Range, M.S., R.N., C.P.H.Q., executive director, Disease-Specific Care Certification, The Joint Commission.
Twenty-one patients have been implanted with LVADs as bridges to transplant since the Sutter Heart & Vascular Institute began its VAD program two years ago. Nine of those patients have since received heart transplants.
Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento houses the Sutter Heart & Vascular Institute. Through rapid diagnosis, complex surgeries, non-surgical interventions and one of the most extensive research programs in the region, Sutter Heart & Vascular Institute maintains its tradition of excellence in care for infants, children and adults. For more information on Sutter Heart & Vascular Institute, visit the Web site www.suttermedicalcenter.org.
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