Nationwide Childrens Hospital has been designated an OptumHealth Center of Excellence for Congenital Heart Disease (CHD), joining 14 other such centers in the U.S.
The OptumHealth CHD Centers of Excellence network of elite CHD programs was developed by identifying "best practice" CHD programs throughout the U.S. These centers provide patients and case managers with access to cost-effective, high-quality CHD health care. Additionally, Nationwide Childrens Hospital participates in the Transplant Access Program for pediatric heart, lung and heart/lung transplantation. Participation alleviates insurance-related barriers for the 40 million OptumHealth covered lives throughout the country.
The Heart Center at Nationwide Children's Hospital is a world-class diagnostic, treatment and research facility for pediatric and adult patients with all forms of congenital heart disease and acquired cardiomyopathy. The innovative spirit of the cardiothoracic surgeons and interventional cardiology teams at The Heart Center came together again to bring the technology first developed in the first-of-its-kind Hybrid Catheterization Suites to a state-of-the-art operating suite, opened just last year.
The heart transplant program at Nationwide Childrens received national accreditation from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) in December 2002 to perform heart transplants and the first heart transplant was performed in April 2003. The Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Program received its UNOS accreditation in the spring of 2005. These transplant programs utilize a multidisciplinary team of experts in the transplantation of children and adults with childhood diseases.
Heart transplants are available for end-stage cardiac failure unresponsive to medical therapy. Lung transplants are available for pulmonary disease that can no longer be treated adequately by traditional means. Heart-lung transplant is available in situations where long standing irreparable heart disease has damaged the lungs to the point that a heart transplant alone would not succeed. In addition to UNOS accreditation, all thoracic (pertaining to the chest) transplant programs are approved by the Ohio Department of Health and Human Services and accepted into the Ohio Solid Organ Transplant Consortium.
Nationwide Children's Hospital Designated OptumHealth Center of Excellence for Congenital Heart Disease
April 4, 2008
About Nationwide Children's Hospital
Named to the Top 10 Honor Roll on U.S. News & World Report’s 2024-25 list of “Best Children’s Hospitals,” Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of America’s largest not-for-profit free-standing pediatric health care systems providing unique expertise in pediatric population health, behavioral health, genomics and health equity as the next frontiers in pediatric medicine, leading to best outcomes for the health of the whole child. Integrated clinical and research programs, as well as prioritizing quality and safety, are part of what allows Nationwide Children’s to advance its unique model of care. Nationwide Children’s has a staff of more than 16,000 that provides state-of-the-art wellness, preventive and rehabilitative care and diagnostic treatment during more than 1.8 million patient visits annually. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children’s physicians train the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric specialists. The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the Top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded free-standing pediatric research facilities. More information is available at NationwideChildrens.org.