Children’s Hospital and Henry Ford Collaborate on First Transplant

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Children’s Hospital of Michigan and Henry Ford Hospital collaborated on a liver transplant last month — the first to take place since the two organizations established a pediatric partnership program in 2012. 

“This collaboration merges … medical expertise and advanced technologies for the benefit of the youngest patients in southeast Michigan,” says Dr. Dean Kim, chief of transplant at Children’s Hospital of Michigan and surgical director of kidney and pancreas transplantation at the Henry Ford Transplant Institute. “It’s a win-win for everyone.”

The partnership offers metro Detroit’s only pediatric kidney transplant program, as well as the tri-county area’s only pediatric heart transplant program. Procedures take place at Children’s Hospital, while the clinical staff represents both institutions.

The program builds on a longstanding relationship between the two organizations, says Larry M. Gold, CEO of Children’s Hospital. “We’ve worked collaboratively with Henry Ford Hospital for a number a years. We share a lot of expertise so we can offer the community the best in class,” he says.

Gold says the partnership bolsters the transplant services provided through Children’s Hospital, which performed its first kidney transplant in 1970s. “Our program is strengthened even further through our collaboration with the Henry Ford Transplant Institute, a national leader in liver transplantation and Michigan’s most comprehensive multi-organ transplant center,” he says.

The importance of offering the transplants in Detroit is paramount, Gold says. “If a child has to travel away for a transplant, (his or her) support systems aren’t available. But if we can support the family locally, ultimately, the child is going to do much better,” he says.

The patient, Jaylin Daniels of Troy, a 15-year-old boy, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis and cirrhosis of the liver at 7 months. The March 30 transplant was led by Dr. David A. Bruno, surgical director of the pediatric liver transplant program at Children’s Hospital and senior staff surgeon at the Henry Ford Transplant Institute.

“Jaylin’s surgery went extremely well, and our highly skilled team worked together seamlessly,” Bruno says. “Jaylin also has great family support, which is very important for his continued recovery. We’re very pleased.”