The Lung Center at the Miami Transplant Institute opens new unit in the UHealth Jackson Critical Care Pavilion at Jackson Memorial Hospital
Lung transplant patients and those with critical respiratory conditions to be treated in new, state-of-the-art facility
What:
What: The Lung Center at the Miami Transplant Institute (MTI), an affiliation between Jackson Health System and UHealth – University of Miami Health System, is opening a new intensive care unit in the UHealth Jackson Critical Care Pavilion at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The unit, located on the fourth floor of Jackson’s new tower built exclusively for patients in need of the most advanced intensive care, will treat lung transplant and critical respiratory patients. Set to open to patients later this month, the 25-bed unit will be staffed by a highly-skilled integrated care team that includes critical care physicians, nurses, ECMO specialists, and physical therapists. It is the first critical care unit of its kind at Jackson Memorial exclusively for respiratory patients.
The Lung Center at MTI was established in 2022 to provide the most innovative approaches in surgical lung and respiratory care. The center is home to one of the world’s leading lung transplant teams, led by Tiago Machuca, MD, PhD, director of the Lung Center and professor of clinical surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. It features a team of experts in pulmonary medicine, surgical, and critical care. Since the Lung Center at MTI opened less than a year ago, its team of transplant surgeons have performed 75 lifesaving lung transplants at Jackson Memorial. Among those patients is Glenn Forshee.
Patient Story:
Glenn Forshee, 63
In 1994, Glenn Forshee developed a persistent dry cough, and would get overheated quickly. A minister at the time, Forshee was preparing to go on a mission trip and needed a physical examination, which included an X-Ray, to travel abroad. Forshee’s medical team found something concerning in the X-ray: extreme scarring in his lungs, to the point that they looked white and cloudy. He was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, a condition that causes growth of tiny collections of inflammatory cells in the lungs, which led him to develop pulmonary hypertension, a type of high blood pressure that affects the arteries in the lungs.
By 2017, Forshee struggled with labored breathing, blackouts, excessive coughing, dramatic oxygen drops, and a bronchial infection that led to an emergency room visit and the need to use three liters of oxygen, 24 hours a day. Four years later, by 2021, his hypertension worsened, and Forshee needed six liters of oxygen to help him breathe. His best bet for survival was a double-lung transplant. As a high-risk patient, no center would treat him. However, in March 2022, the Miami Transplant Institute at Jackson Memorial Hospital opened its new lung center. Forshee was accepted as a patient, and he underwent a successful double-lung transplant on April 15 at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Just a few weeks later on May 5, he returned home to his beloved wife of 44 years, his 10 children, and his 25 grandchildren. Today, Forshee is healthy and is back to work as a minister, and credits the care he received at MTI and Jackson Memorial for his renewed health.
Forshee will join Dr. Machuca and Jackson Memorial Hospital leaders to celebrate the opening of the new critical care unit for the Lung Center on Monday, January 9.
Who:
Hamilton Clark, senior vice president and CEO, Jackson Memorial Hospital
Tiago N. Machuca, MD, PhD, director of the Lung Center at MTI, and professor of clinical surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Hany Y. Atallah, MD, chief medical officer, Jackson Memorial Hospital
Luke Preczewski, vice president, Miami Transplant Institute
Glenn Forshee, double-lung transplant recipient
When:
11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday, January 9, 2023
Where:
Jackson Memorial Hospital, UHealth Jackson Critical Care Pavilion, fourth floor (Clark Diagnostic Treatment Center)
1080 N.W. 19th Street
Miami, FL 33136
Notes:
Media can park in Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial’s media lot. A representative from Jackson’s communications and outreach team will escort media at 10:45 a.m.
