If you or a loved one requires a heart, lung, kidney, or liver transplant, our team at William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital will be with you every step of the way. When you are a transplant patient at Clements University Hospital, we’re with you for life.
Our compassionate approach and expertise at every phase of the transplant process – combined with advanced technology and a robust research program – enable us to offer some of the best outcomes in the country for transplant patients.
Our multidisciplinary team includes nurses, physicians, transplant coordinators, dietitians, pharmacists, and more – all of whom work closely together to provide you with exceptional pre- and post-transplant care. Even after your transplant surgery, we’re here to provide comprehensive outpatient treatment, including infection prevention, immunosuppression management, and long-term monitoring and care.
Clements University Hospital is proud to be part of the solid-organ transplantation program at UT Southwestern Medical Center. UT Southwestern doctors completed the first kidney transplant in North Texas more than 50 years ago. We’ve since become a leading facility for organ transplants, with outcomes that are among the best in the country.
Our Facility
Clements University Hospital is the site of all transplant surgeries performed through UT Southwestern’s solid-organ transplant program. Our state-of-the-art facility is designed to accommodate the needs of transplant patients and their families.
Our transplant department includes:
- Larger patient rooms for advanced equipment such as ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machines
- In-room monitors that allow patients and their caregivers to review charts and images such as X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs
- Capability for in-room dialysis
- The most advanced lift equipment, allowing the comfortable movement of transplant patients without disturbing their incisions
- Negative-pressure air flow, providing cleaner air and a reduced risk of infection
- Dedicated rehabilitation space conveniently located near patient rooms
- Dedicated dietary, medication management, exercise, wound care, and follow-up areas
- Large, positive-pressure rooms for post-transplant patients, which help protect their compromised immune systems
Heart Transplants
The solid-organ transplant team at UT Southwestern has performed nearly 600 heart transplants. Our heart transplant program consistently achieves high survival rates and includes physicians who are board certified in Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology.
UT Southwestern has also played an important role in the growing use of left ventricular assist device (LVAD) therapy. Our ventricular assist program, which is Joint Commission accredited, was the first in North Texas to implement a pneumatic LVAD and among the first in the nation approved for LVAD destination therapy.
Learn more about heart care services at Clements University Hospital.
Lung Transplants
UT Southwestern is one of the top 10 lung transplant programs in the United States in volume, performing more than 60 lung transplants a year and more than 500 transplants since the beginning of our program.
We are one of two pulmonary hypertension Centers of Comprehensive Care (CCC) in Texas, as certified by the Pulmonary Hypertension Association. In addition, we have the only Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation-certified center in Texas and the only adult Cystic Fibrosis Foundation-certified center in Dallas.
For those patients who require lung transplantation, our program includes specialty technologies that help us achieve the best possible outcomes:
- Ex vivo – Clements University Hospital is the only hospital in Texas, and one of just a few in the nation, with an ex-vivo program. Ex vivo is a perfusion system that helps to expand the donor pool for lung transplants by making more lungs viable for transplant.
- Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) – While ex vivo expands the donor pool, ECMO helps to preserve the recipient pool. The portable ECMO machines help us maintain the health of lung transplant recipients. They can be quickly connected to assist with breathing, helping acutely ill patients survive until their transplant surgery.
These advanced technologies also allow us to minimize the amount of time patients spend waiting for a lung transplant. At UT Southwestern, our median time to transplant is only 2.5 months, which is much shorter than other hospitals.
Kidney Transplants
Since performing the first kidney transplant in North Texas in 1964, the UT Southwestern kidney transplant program has grown to become one of the most successful in the nation. Our one-year renal graft survival rate exceeds 94 percent, according to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, a statistic that includes challenging cases of patients with multiple comorbidities that UT Southwestern often accepts.
We work to keep our comprehensive evaluation process as brief as possible, especially for patients who may require dialysis. Our average time for a comprehensive workup is less than 15 weeks for the transplant recipient and less than six weeks for the donor, both of which are below the national average. For patients, that means less time spent waiting for a life-changing transplant operation.
Liver Transplants
The liver transplant program at Clements University Hospital averages a three-year survival rate that’s above the national average.
Our team of surgeons, hepatologists, intensive care doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, dietitians, and pharmacists works side-by-side to provide the highest level of care for each patient. Our breadth of expertise and ongoing focus on quality, outcomes, and the future help our patients achieve remarkable results.
Liver transplant patients also benefit from the inpatient liver transplant service. Physicians see their patients every day, rather than having a hospitalist or other care provider see them. The same physician who sees the patient before transplant will also take care of him or her after transplant.
Become an Organ Donor
Sign up to be an organ donor
Sign up to be a living kidney donor
Contact the Transplant Team
Kidney and Liver Transplant
214-645-1919
Heart and Lung Transplant
214-645-5505
