Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center has reached a significant milestone by performing its 600th heart transplant on May 19. The center remains the only hospital in Pennsylvania outside of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to offer heart transplant surgery.
The milestone procedure was performed on Paul Clifford from State College, Pennsylvania. He is recovering well after receiving his new heart just one day after his 51st birthday. Clifford was diagnosed with electrical issues in his heart in 2015, requiring a pacemaker. In 2017, he underwent genetic testing due to a family history of heart disease and discovered he had a genetic marker for a progressive condition that weakened his heart’s ability to pump blood, dropping his ejection fraction to less than 20 percent by the time of his transplant.
Clifford was discharged from the medical center on June 3 with staff and care team members celebrating his recovery journey. “This isn’t something people go through multiple times, so I didn’t know where the best place was to get care,” said Clifford. “But looking back, I don’t think I could have received better care anywhere in the world than I did right here at Penn State Health.”
Milton S. Hershey Medical Center has been at the forefront of heart transplantation since its first procedure in 1984. The program includes pre-transplant evaluations, surgery, and lifelong follow-up care while supporting patients’ emotional, nutritional, and financial needs.
Dr. Behzad Soleimani, director of Penn State Heart and Vascular Institute and chair of the Department of Surgery at Penn State College of Medicine, stated: “Our 600th transplant reflects the strength of our entire team and the total trust our patients place in us.” He added that each transplant represents a life renewed.
The program is among the top-ranked nationally for transplant survival rates. Data from January by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients shows a three-year patient survival rate of 97.22% for Milton S. Hershey Medical Center’s heart transplant program—the highest in Pennsylvania.
The Penn State Heart and Vascular Institute continues to advance cardiac care through research and innovation. Its physicians and scientists are involved in clinical trials aimed at improving transplant outcomes with new monitoring methods and safer medications to prevent organ rejection post-transplant.
