Legacy Emanuel’s ECMO program earns highest level of recognition

Legacy Emanuel Medical Center’s Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) program has again been honored with the ELSO Platinum Award for Excellence in Life Support. This is the highest recognition awarded by the international consortium and reflects Legacy Emanuel’s commitment to providing the most advanced life-saving therapies for patients with severe cardiac and respiratory failure. Platinum status is reserved for centers that demonstrate outstanding outcomes, a culture of continuous improvement, and leadership in the field of extracorporeal life support. The designation is awarded to less than 50 out of 800 centers around the world.

“Our platinum center of excellence distinction results from more than 30 years of hard work,” said Joseph Deng, MD, Legacy Health’s medical director for the ECMO program. “Our application reflected our innovation, protocols and dedication to the ECMO community globally and the patients we serve locally.”

Stephanie, for example, had severe lung disease complications and underwent five months of ECMO treatment at Legacy Emanuel. “I had never heard of ECMO,” said the married grandmother. “I’m grateful for this program and the phenomenal staff who cared for my physical and emotional well-being. They even arranged a hospital wedding so I could witness my son’s marriage.” Click to watch Stephanie’s story.

“Being recognized in this way means that we have distinguished ourselves by our processes, procedures and systems in place that promote excellence and exceptional care to provide ECMO services to patients, like Stephanie, and our entire health care community,” said Dr. Deng.

For more information, visit the Legacy Health ECMO Program webpage.