Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth received international recognition from the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) for its advanced care for critically ill patients.
The Gold Level ELSO Award of Excellence in Life Support recognizes Extracorporeal Life Support (ECLS) programs that care for patients requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). About the size of a small suitcase, an ECMO machine puts oxygen into the blood and pumps it back into the patient’s bloodstream when the heart and lungs are too sick to do that work.
“Our program is committed to promoting quality care, using ECMO and other technologies for the most critical patients to help their bodies recuperate,” said Miranda Steele, M.S.N., MBA, R.N., CCRN, E-AEC, Texas Health Fort Worth’s ECMO Program coordinator.
Texas Health Fort Worth established its ECMO program five years ago.
Jonathan Besas, D.O., a pulmonologist on the hospital’s medical staff and medical director of the ECMO program, said the technology supports patients’ heart and lungs in numerous ways.
“When patients are fighting severe respiratory failure or cardiac collapse, which is a severe form of damage to the cardiovascular system, ECMO becomes essential after conventional therapies no longer help,” Besas said.
ECMO also supports patients being treated for:
- Cardiogenic shock
- Cardiomyopathy
- Heart attack
- Inhalation burns
- Myocarditis
- Pneumonia
- Pulmonary embolism
- Pulmonary hypertension
- Sepsis
- Severe hypothermia
- Trauma
- Witnessed cardiac arrest (seen by a bystander or care team member)
The three-tiered award is categorized using Platinum, Gold and Silver levels, with Platinum representing the highest recognition. The designation lasts for three years and emphasizes:
- Quality patient care
- Established policies and procedures
- Comprehensive training and educational resources
- A defined family education program
Jared Shelton, FACHE, Texas Health Fort Worth president, said earning recognition from organizations such as ELSO requires commitment and dedication from everyone at the hospital, including physicians on the medical staff.
“Texas Health is continuously recognized for quality heart and vascular care, and when our care teams consistently commit to these types of labor-intensive programs, it exemplifies their dedication to improve and advance the cardiovascular care we provide to North Texans every day,” Shelton said.
Sharon Beth Larson, D.O., M.S., FACOS, FACS, a cardiothoracic surgeon on the Texas Health Fort Worth medical staff and a member of Texas Health Heart and Lung Surgical Specialists, a Texas Health Physicians Group practice*, emphasized the importance of focusing on and supporting patients during critical times. She also serves as the surgical director of the ECMO program.
“We’re thrilled to be recognized on an international level,” Larson said. “More importantly, we want patients to return to their loved ones and, hopefully, a better quality of life.”
*Physicians employed by Texas Health Physicians Group practice independently and are not employees or agents of Texas Health Resources hospitals.
About Texas Health Resources:
Texas Health Resources is a faith-based, nonprofit health system that cares for more patients in North Texas than any other provider. With a service area that consists of 16 counties and more than 8 million people, the system is committed to providing quality, coordinated care through its Texas Health Physicians Group and 29 hospital locations under the banners of Texas Health Presbyterian, Texas Health Arlington Memorial, Texas Health Harris Methodist and Texas Health Huguley. Texas Health access points and services, ranging from acute-care hospitals and trauma centers to outpatient facilities and home health and preventive services, provide the full continuum of care for all stages of life. The system has more than 4,400 licensed hospital beds, 6,400 physicians with active staff privileges and 30,000 employees. For more information about Texas Health, call 1-877-THR-WELL, or visit www.TexasHealth.org.
