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The Medical Center Foundation Healthy Journey Funding Initiativefor ECMO
Amount requested: Primary objective: Impact:
$500,000 for two additional ECMO units.
expand current ECMO program from 2 units to 4 units. This system provides supportive therapy to a patient, temporarily taking over lung function for a defined period of time, allowing physical recovery from injury or disease.
ExtracorporealMembrane
Oxygenation
ECMO
increase the number of lives that can be saved.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a treatment that uses a pump to circulate blood through an artificial lung back
into the bloodstream. During ECMO, blood is drained from the vascular system, circulated outside the body by a mechanical
pump, and then reinfused into the circulation. This system has been used on infants for years and is now used on adults whose
lungs cannot provide oxygen to their blood. ECMO is a highly complicated process and can only be performed by clinicians with
training and experience in its initiation, maintenance, and discontinuation. ECMO is a supportive therapy rather than disease
modifying treatment in itself, providing oxygenated blood to sustain life during medical interventions or while the body heals from
disease or injury.
Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s first ECMO was performed before the hospital’s planned launch date in order to save the life of a young mother-to-be (see Case Study next page.)
Why Now?ECMO for adults has made remarkable improvement in recent years. According to the National Institute of Health,“ECMO has become more reliable with improvement in equipment, and increased experi-ence, which is reflected in lifesaving results.”
A care team at NGMC successfully began using ECMO last year before scheduled implementation, due to an emergency case involving Harley, a young expectant mother who contracted H1N1. (See the case study below.)
How many will be served?Fortunately, ECMO is not a procedure with high patient volumes. But the reality is, if patients need ECMO and ECMO systems are not available, people will die. The hospital currently has two units, and though it is a new service, there are occassions when both are in use at the same time. ECMO beds are limited in the entire state and transfers to distant facilities can cost valuable time which these patients do not have. Two additional units will provide life-saving care for our region.
2018 2019$250,000 $250,000
How will the money be used?Each unit costs $250,000. The request for Healthy Journey funding is for two units totalling $500,000.
ECMO is not a revenue generator; but once in place, the units will support their operational costs. The units have a useful life measured in years and require no additional staff or resources.
PartnershipsECMO is a hospital-based treatment, provided through the expertise of trauma, cardiovascular and critical care physicians supported by highly trained clinical staff.
Measurable Outcomes:The program’s success will be measured by our health system’s ability to care for patients who need the service.
Twenty-year-old Harley Cook’s first
pregnancy was going beautifully. She was
34-weeks along and eagerly preparing for
the upcoming arrival of little Olivia. When
a sudden high fever prompted an emergency
room visit, Harley was diagnosed with
H1N1, also known as Swine Flu. Because
of Harley’s compromised breathing, the
decision was made to perform an emergency
C-section to deliver Olivia. After the
delivery, Harley’s health continued
to decline.
“Conventional therapies had failed to
support the function of Harley’s lungs,” says
Allison Dupont, MD, an interventional
cardiologist with The Heart Center of
NGMC. “If we didn’t help her quickly, she
would die.”
The critical care team at NGMC
Gainesville contacted the only two Atlan-
ta-area hospitals known to offer ECMO,
but both hospitals were full.
“The ECMO procedure is for the sickest
of the sick,” says Craig Brown, MD, a
pulmonologist with Northeast Georgia
Diagnostic Clinic and a member of
Harley’s care team. “When a patient has
severe dysfunction of the lungs and/or
heart, ECMO essentially takes over lung
function – and heart function, when
necessary – which takes stress off the body
and allows it to focus on healing.”
“We were weeks away from starting our
own ECMO service,” adds Dr. Dupont,
medical director of the ECMO service at
NGMC. “Our team had been trained and
we were in the process of checking final
administrative details. But, when we found
out the other two hospitals couldn’t help
Harley, we realized we had to accelerate our
plans to
save her.
There were
no guarantees,
but we had to try –
because Harley was going to die
without ECMO.”
NGMC granted emergency privileges for
the procedure; and Dr. Dupont and her
partner, Dr. Mark Leimbach, put Harley
into an induced coma and started the
ECMO service. Just four days later, Harley
was breathing on her own.
“This team worked together tirelessly to
save Harley,” says Dr. Dupont. “They acted
decisively and within days Harley was
holding Olivia.”
Case Study: Harley Cook
For more information or to donate online visit TheMedicalCenterFoundation.org/ecmo or call 770-219-8099.