Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital and Memorial Regional Hospital have each been recognized with the Center of Excellence Gold Level ELSO Award for Excellence in Life Support from the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO). The award highlights programs that have distinguished themselves by offering exceptional quality care in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and boast processes and procedures that promote excellence.

Memorial Healthcare System is the only healthcare system in Broward County that provides ECMO for support of failing organ systems in infants, children and adults. ECMO is one of the most advanced forms of life support available to patients experiencing acute failure of the cardio-respiratory system. ECMO allows for the patient’s lungs or heart to heal over a period of time by using a heart-lung machine to oxygenate the blood outside the body.

“The extracorporeal life support program at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital has been a designated Center of Excellence by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization since 2016. This year, once again, receiving the Gold Level award recognizes our center’s continued commitment to patient safety and superior outcomes for infants, children and adolescents requiring extracorporeal support,” said Dr. Gerald Lavandosky, Chief, Critical Care, Joe DiMaggio’s Children’s Hospital.

“The Center of Excellence Gold Level ELSO award makes our adult ECMO program the only one in South Florida, and one of only 69 adult ECMO programs worldwide, to gain this recognition. The multi-disciplinary team at Memorial Regional is extremely proud of achieving this in the short five years of its existence,” said Dr. I-wen Wang, Chief, Adult Heart Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute. “This distinction, along with our critical care transport team and 3-star (top rating) for Aortic Valve Replacement surgery as designated by the Society of Thoracic Surgery, make Memorial’s Cardiac and Vascular Institute the destination program for the highest quality cardiac care in South Florida.”

The ELSO Award signifies to patients and families a commitment to exceptional patient care from Memorial Healthcare System, as no other hospital system in Florida has the Center of Excellence Gold Level Award for both adult and pediatric ECMO. It also demonstrates to the health care community an assurance of high quality standards, specialized equipment and supplies, defined patient protocols, and advanced education of all staff members.

Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital and Memorial Regional Hospital are being recognized for reaching the highest level of performance, innovation and quality. As designated Centers of Excellence, each program demonstrated excellence in: