Houston Hospital Reopens Heart Transplant Program after Two-Week Suspension

​A Houston hospital has reopened its heart transplant program after a two-week suspension to conduct an internal review of recent deaths, according to a June 15, 2018, story in the Houston Chronicle. The hospital suspended the program after at least three of the nine patients who received heart transplants in 2018 died, according to a June 1, 2018, article in the Chronicle. In a written statement, the hospital said it "did not identify systemic issues related to the quality of the program" but that it reorganized its transplant team, refined criteria under which patients would be accepted, and made other improvements to strengthen the program. One such improvement is that the hospital's top lung transplant surgeon will now either perform or participate in every heart transplant.