JLH Foundation Proposal

A Proposal for the JLH Foundation

Transplant Services

The Transplant Services program at Texas Children’s Hospital is one of the largest, most active, and most successful pediatric transplant programs in the United States, providing heart, kidney, liver, and lung transplants.

Transplant Services is proud of its long list of firsts. Texas Children’s was the first hospital — and one of only three in the nation — to perform a triple transplant of heart, lungs, and liver in one procedure. We also performed the first pediatric lung-kidney transplant in the United States.

In March 2017, our transplant team performed the 500^th liver transplant — an accomplishment achieved by only a handful of other pediatric programs. Most important of all, Texas Children’s Transplant Program consistently produces patient outcomes that are among the best in the nation.

Travel Expenses for Transplant Patients

Because transplant surgeries are so complex, only a handful of hospitals in the United States will perform them on small children. As a result, 47 percent of Texas Children’s transplant patients come to Houston from other cities in Texas, as well as from other states and other countries around the world.

The travel expenses alone can cause a huge financial strain on patients’ families, as can expenses for lodging. Heart and lung patients are required to live in Houston while waiting for their transplants. For some patients, the wait time can be very long—sometimes up to a year—before the right organ becomes available. For liver and kidney transplants, patients are not required to live in Houston during their wait; however, they must come to Texas Children’s once or twice a month for checkups. This can mean a lot of back and forth travel between a patient’s home city and Houston.

After transplant surgery, patients and their families must live in the Houston area for three to six months. After that, they have to come back to Texas Children’s for frequent follow-up visits. Finding a place to live and paying lodging costs during these months pre- and post-transplant is time-consuming, expensive, and stressful.

Living donors face significant financial challenges as well. At Texas Children’s, 30 percent of donated kidneys come from living donors. Many of them live outside of Houston and must come to the hospital for a two to three-day evaluation prior to being accepted as an organ donor. Then, they return to Houston for the procedure and are admitted to a different hospital for two days after surgery. Some donors choose to remain close to the hospital for longer periods to be with the recipient, who is most often a family member. They are required to follow up with the transplant center at six months, one year, and two years post-surgery. During each visit, they must pay travel and lodging costs out-of-pocket.

All of these financial burdens add up very quickly and make an already difficult time even more complicated.

Transplant Family Support Groups

We recently launched a monthly support group for our liver transplant recipients. Families learn from various speakers about topics ranging from living a healthy lifestyle to college readiness. We plan to expand our support groups for other transplant patients. We will also organize fun events for all pre- and post-transplant patients to meet, mingle, and share their experiences of coping and adjusting to life after giving or receiving a transplant.

A Gift from the JLH Foundation

Texas Children’s Hospital respectfully requests a gift of $300,000 to support our Transplant Assistance Program and to expand our new transplant family support group component. Below is a breakdown of how the funds will be used:

View a PDF of this proposal.

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