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T HE LAHEY HOSPITAL & Medical Center (LHMC) Department of Transplantation pioneered liver transplantation in the region more than 30 years ago, and today the talented team of surgeons and medical physicians remains at the forefront of the field with an integrated care model. This novel approach to care ensures improved communication and collaboration, reduces wait times for patients, and fosters lifelong partnerships between patients and their healthcare providers. "We have a unique set-up that is not present in many transplant programs, and that is complete integration between the medical and the surgical sides of care," says Elizabeth Pomfret, MD, PhD, FACS, Chair of the Department of Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Diseases. "There are about 40 people within the department who focus on patients with end-stage organ disease, whether of the liver or the kidney." Lahey Hospital & Medical Center is a renowned leader in transplantation. Its program supports kidney and liver trans- plant patients who receive organs from both live and deceased donors. The Lahey team has a long string of "firsts," including performing the first liver transplant in New England in 1983, the first live donor adult liver transplant (LDALT) in New England in 1988 and the nation's first combined live donor liver, live donor kidney transplant in 1999. In the fall of 2005, the Lahey LDALT pro- gram became one of the first in the country to receive accreditation from the United Network for Organ Sharing. Since 1983, the program has performed transplantations for more than 1,500 patients, more than any other hospital in New England. Under Dr. Pomfret's direction, the LDALT program is the largest in the United States, with more than 270 surgeries performed to date. In addition to providing liver and kidney transplant services, the program treats patients with a variety of benign and malignant conditions of the liver, bile ducts, gallbladder and pancreas using state-of-the-art modalities includ- ing laparoscopic and robot-assisted procedures. The surgeons — many of whom are ranked among the best in the Boston area — are well-versed in modern surgical technology used for whole and partial organ replacement, folding their less invasive surgical approach into an Pioneering Transplant Care: Lahey's Integrated Approach Delivers Strong Results By Maggie Behringer AN INNOVATIVE MODEL PUTS THE PATIENT FIRST. COV ER FE AT UR E Dr. Pomfret discusses liver transplantation with a patient. Lahey Hospital & Medical Center was the first in New England to perform a successful liver transplant. 6 | Greater Boston MD NEWS ■ M D N E W S . CO M