Loma Linda University Medical Center Touts Heart Assist Device Certification

Loma Linda University Medical Center officials are touting the hospital's recent certification to implant heart assist devices as "destination therapy" for patients with heart failure.

The hospital has been implanting heart assist devices since 1994, Herbert Atienza of Loma Linda University Medical Center said in a statement.

"Certification from the Joint Commission means the hospital's program has been evaluated and found to meet national standards for implanting in an expanded population for destination therapy," Atienza said.

The Loma Linda hospital is the first medical facility in the Inland Empire to receive certification to implant the devices, "similar to the one implanted in former Vice President Dick Cheney before his recent heart transplant," Atienza said.

Cheney received an implanted heart assist device in July 2010 in Viriginia, and the device helped keep him alive. In March 2012, he underwent heart transplant surgery.

"The Joint Commission Certification for Ventricular Assist Device was granted to the hospital following a rigorous on-site survey recently," Atienza said.

"The certification authorizes the hospital to perform 'destination therapy,' since the patients typically are not candidates for heart transplant and the device implanted in them is their 'life destination,'" Atienza said.

The only approved device currently is HeartMate II, and Loma Linda University Medical Center is among the few institutions in Southern California to offer the implant procedure, Atienza said.

"The certification award recognizes our staff and our institution's dedication to meeting all of the state-of-the-art standards in treating our heart patients," Dr. Liset Stoletniy, medical director of cardiomyopathy and heart transplants at Loma Linda University Medical Center, said in prepared remarks.

Certification for Loma Linda University Medical Center "paves the way for payment by Medicare for patients receiving the HeartMate II for destination therapy," Atienza said.

Loma Linda University Medical Center is the only Level 1 trauma Center in San Bernardino, Riverside, Inyo, and Mono counties, which cover more than 40,000 square miles in Southern California.

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