2023 Pillar Award Recipients
Emory University Hospital
Emory University Hospital is one of three hospitals within the Emory Healthcare system providing cardiac surgery and ECMO services in the Atlanta area. The Perfusion team at Emory University Hospital prides itself on the wide range of surgeries and the complexity of those surgeries being done. The Perfusion team’s core belief to better patient safety, patient outcomes, and team cohesiveness is teamwork. Through the use of AmSECT protocols and guidelines along with site and surgeon specific protocols, the perfusion staff strive to provide the best care possible.
The Perfusion team is honored to be awarded the AmSECT Pillar Award. The award validates the team’s hard work in maintaining protocols, continued work in QA/QI initiatives, team education, and overall commitment to patient care.
Maine Medical Center
As the flagship hospital for MaineHealth and largest hospital in the state, Maine Medical Center is comprised of 700 beds which support some of the most complex cases in the region. The Department of Perfusion Services at Maine Medical Center is a dedicated team of professionals comprised of unique skillsets with safety and innovation at the forefront for advancement of patient care. As a team, they believe that as technology grows so should the quality, and more importantly the safety, of care to the patients. The MMC Perfusion team is an important part of the Cardiovascular Service Line as a whole, and together their team-based approach allows them to deliver safe, high-quality care while adhering to the expected standards. Through pragmatic, team-based initiatives, improvement of patient care algorithms, cultural safety, and patient outcomes are primary endpoints when measuring success. The team strives for both novelty and excellence in a number of areas including orientation and training; compliance to and innovation of QA/QI processes; development of institutional protocols and adherence to AmSECT standards and guidelines. The team is honored to accept the Pillar Award, and more importantly proud of the best-practice standard that is set for the patient population in New England.
Perfusion Management Group, Ltd. at Lancaster General Health
For over 30 years, Perfusion Management Group, Ltd. has provided perfusion and blood management services to Lancaster General Health. Under the direction of Mark Epler, MD and Tim Zellers, MSN,MBA, the Heart and Vascular Institute performs adult cardiac surgery including minimally invasive surgery, complex aortic surgery, TAVR and an active mechanical circulatory support program.
Adherence to evidence-based perfusion guidelines forms the basis of our patient-centered practice to ensure quality outcomes. Development and integration of key performance indicators (KPI) within our electronic perfusion record monitors and alerts the perfusionists if KPIs are outside practice guidelines. AmSECT Standards form the basis of perfusion safety. Regular practice meetings reinforce discussion, collaboration and education. It is a privilege to receive the Pillar Award and distinction by AmSECT and perfusion community.
2022 Pillar Award Recipients
HCA Florida North Florida Hospital
The partnership created between Redline Perfusion and HCA North Florida Hospital has been invaluable to the provision of excellent perfusion care. In just a few short years, we have seen a dramatic improvement in patient outcomes. We have embraced new technologies, worked with industry partners, and were early adopters of the current standards and guidelines recommendations from AmSECT. We continually strive to promote continued learning and growth in both technical and non-technical skills, and as always, our shared commitment and focus is on patient safety and quality of care. With the help of our administrators and multi-disciplinary cardiac team we are driven by a single mission: Above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life.
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford (LPCH) is the pediatric and obstetric teaching hospital of Stanford Medicine. LPCH was the vision of Lucile Salter Packard. Her dream was simple: to nurture both the body and soul of every child. She believed in the power of nature as an important part of the healing process. She wanted kids to be treated like kids — not just patients. And she believed that caring for a child meant involving the whole family. Stanford Children’s Health honors that vision through our dedication in delivering innovative services and unparalleled family-centered-care. Vision statement: To heal humanity through science and compassion, one child and family at a time.
Our perfusion team uses this vision to guide our practice. We provide cardiopulmonary support, lead the education and competency of ECMO and support the MCS program at LPCH. We are grateful for our surgeons, anesthesiologists, physician assistants, nurses and ICU providers who collectively create a collaborative environment from which to learn, improve and innovate. As a recipient of the Pillar Award, we are motivated to maintain our standard and focus on department activities to further advance our profession
Massachusetts General Hospital
The Perfusion team at Massachusetts General Hospital is dedicated to providing the most innovative and patient-centered care for patients undergoing extracorporeal support. In a professional and fiscally responsible manner, the perfusionists embrace evidence-based practice, academic excellence and patient safety in order to achieve the highest quality outcomes.
Adhering to the most up to date guidelines and recommendations of the American Society of Extra-corporeal Technology (AmSECT) is ingrained in the perfusion team. The team is provided with appropriate checklists for every case and mechanical device scenario to ensure safety and quality care. The “n+1” staffing model is utilized at all times, where “n” equals the number of perfusionists providing life support at any given time, or as deemed appropriate on a situational basis by the on-call perfusionist and/or Director of Perfusion Services. This ensures each patient at Massachusetts General Hospital receives safe and top-quality care.
Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt
Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt Pediatric Perfusion Team includes 6 perfusionists and a business process manager. We are dedicated to serving each patient with safe and quality care in hopes of providing them new opportunities. In addition, we are vested in the future of our profession by serving as clinical education site for students. As a team, we have worked to develop our standards and guidelines with a focus on meeting or exceeding the AmSECT Standards and Guidelines in both pediatric and adult cardiac perfusion management. We have worked to incorporate quality measures within our practice through the collaboration and support of our cardiac surgeons: Dr. David Bichell, Dr. Karla Christian, and Dr. Nhue Do. Our growth in quality measures would not be possible without the collaboration and resourceful critical thinking of our critical care and anesthesia colleagues who challenge us and support us in our quest to provide quality perfusion management. The pillar award is not only a reflection of the dedication, hard work, and continual improvement efforts of the pediatric perfusion team but also of the collaborative support received from our administration, cardiac surgeons, cardiac anesthesiologists, cardiac operating room team, mechanical support teams and critical care team. As a collaborative group, we have evoked and embraced change using medical evidence, experience, and the desire to provide the best safest care to our patients.
We describe ourselves as a team strengthened by cohesioniveness, integrity, collaboration, accountability and resilience while being supported by a uniquely diverse network of professionals dedicated to each cardiac patient. The Mission Statement of our team is the following: “Work collaboratively to put the patient FIRST in everything we do, while promoting the development and utilizing the unique strengths of each team member to inspire evolvement within Pediatric Perfusion.” We are focused on continuous quality improvement measures to ensure that we are providing the best care available to our patient population each and every pump run. We are committed to providing excellence in all aspects of patient care as well as the development and promotion of our profession that has given us the opportunity to be recognized. We are honored to be a recipient of the AmSECT Pillar Award.