News
Temple University Hospital (TUH) and St. Luke’s University Health Network have a strategic partnership for transplant services that streamlines coordination of care and minimizes the amount of travel required by patients in St. Luke’s vicinity.
The partnership covers heart, bone marrow, liver, kidney and pancreas transplants. It allows patients to attend pre- and post-transplant appointments with an appropriate Temple or St. Luke’s physician, as well as related diagnostic tests, at a convenient location on-site at St. Luke’s.
“Our collaboration with Temple enables us to provide our patients with access to innovative transplant treatments that are not found at most hospitals,” said Dr. Jeffrey Jahre, Senior Vice President of Medical and Academic Affairs for St. Luke’s University Health Network.
Patients receive pre-transplant screening and care at St. Luke’s under the direction of both St. Luke’s and Temple physicians. If approved for transplant, patients can be referred to TUH for required pre-transplant testing as well as their transplant surgery. Once discharged from TUH, patients receive post-transplant care back at St. Luke’s.
“This will provide a continuity of care for patients from pre-transplant evaluation through post-transplant follow up visits, and afford them access to more services in a convenient location,” said Verdi J. DiSesa, MD, MBA, President and CEO of Temple University Hospital, Senior Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM) and Chief Operating Officer of Temple University Health System.
In September, St. Luke’s received the Hospital & Health System Association of Pennsylvania’s top award of titanium for meeting the 2018 Donate Life Hospital Challenge.
“We are proud to participate in this important campaign and hope that it continues to raise awareness and increase the number of individuals who say yes to donation,” said Rebecca Wilde-Onia, St. Luke’s trauma program manager.
The HAP Donate Life Hospital Challenge encourages Pennsylvania hospitals to increase organ donation awareness and provide opportunities for people to sign up as organ, eye, and tissue donors within their hospital and community. The annual competition encourages healthcare organizations to get the word out about organ and tissue donation by offering points to participants for various tasks. Each hospital records evidence of activities completed on a scorecard during the campaign and then submits it to HAP’s Donate Life judges. The judges verify the evidence submitted and select the winners.
Nationally 115,000 men, women and children await lifesaving organ transplants. Less than half of all Pennsylvanians (48 percent) are registered as organ donors.
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About St. Luke’s
Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 14,000 employees providing services at 10 hospitals and more than 300 outpatient sites. With annual net revenue greater than $2 billion, the Network’s service area includes 10 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe and Schuylkill counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, St. Luke’s created the region’s first and only regional medical school campus. It also operates the nation’s longest continuously operating School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 28 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 226 residents and fellows. St. Luke’s is the only health care system in central-eastern Pennsylvania to earn Medicare’s five-star rating (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. In 2018, St. Luke’s was named a Top Hospital in the Teaching Hospital category by the Leapfrog Group. It has repeatedly earned the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from IBM Watson Health (formerly Truven Health Analytics) – six times total and four years in a row including 2018. It has also been cited by IBM Watson Health as a 50 Top Cardiovascular Program. Utilizing the EPIC electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of the SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information. St. Luke’s is also recognized as one of the state’s lowest cost providers
