VA St. Louis Health Care System designated VA’s 8th Heart Transplant Program

As only the 8th such program in the Veterans Health Administration, this designation brings with it a host of benefits, including the ability for Veterans to receive heart transplants and pre- and post-transplant care locally. Previously, Veterans in the St. Louis region were required to travel significant distances to receive their transplant care. 

“This fundamentally changes the landscape for Veterans cared for by VA St. Louis who can now stay in place at the medical center they call home with the physicians and nursing team with whom they have developed long-term relationships,” said Candace Ifabiyi, VA St. Louis Health Care System’s Medical Center Director and CEO.

Dr. Jonathan Moreno, Chief of the Heart Failure Program, and Dr. Abhinav Diwan, Chief of Cardiology, have led the effort for this designation as a formal Heart Transplant and Left Ventricle Assistance Device Program. According to Dr. Moreno, this designation is a testament to the multidisciplinary expertise that makes VA St. Louis a leading medical center within the VA medical system – one that is equipped to provide the full complement of advanced heart failure care to Veterans. 

Additionally, this designation means that VA St. Louis is ready to accept Veterans with highly complex conditions, including those with multiple comorbidities who may have been deemed ineligible for advanced therapies at other centers. It also opens the door for Veterans to participate in heart failure clinical trials and continues the tradition of the VA remaining at the forefront of cutting-edge research in the heart failure space.

“This is the culmination of years of efforts by Dr. Moreno and Dr. Diwan and a big achievement to be recognized nationally,” said Dr. Carlos Bernal-Mizrachi, Chief of Medicine, VASTLHCS. “But the big win is for our Veterans who can now remain in the VA system for their heart failure care.” 

The program is just the latest public-private partnership for the VA and one that Dr. Moreno, also a cardiologist and heart failure specialist at WashU Medicine, said he believes provides the best of both worlds. 

“As heart failure physicians who are now embedded within the VA system, we are able to rapidly identify Veterans earlier in their disease process, within the window for treatment with advanced therapies,” said Moreno. “Our team has been instrumental in shepherding multiple Veterans over the past few years through the transplant process, by working closely with our partners at WashU Medicine.”

Veterans on the heart transplant list follow the same donor/recipient transplant process as anyone else on the transplant list, so those affiliated with the program shared that designation doesn’t move Veterans to the front of the recipient list. 

Still, the integrated transplant program captures the essence of the collaborative efforts across the VA St. Louis and Washington University Medical campuses. Those who are candidates for a heart transplant or LVAD surgery will have their surgeries at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and post-LVAD and -transplant care will transition back to the VA. It is a carefully designed system that harnesses the strengths of both the VA and its academic affiliate to offer such services to Veterans across the Midwest and beyond to VA St. Louis for further evaluation.