Heart Transplant

If you experience heart failure, the Henry Ford Transplant Institute can help. We have remained a leader in heart transplants since performing Detroit’s first, in 1985.

We are the only hospital in Detroit — and one of just 3 in Michigan — that provides a complete range of heart failure treatments. Our guest services, nurse navigators and community clinics make your care as convenient and trouble-free as possible.

Why choose Henry Ford for a heart transplant?

When you come to Henry Ford for a heart transplant, you benefit from:

• Expertise: In addition to their transplant knowledge, our specialists helped pioneer the use of ventricular assist devices (VADs) and other systems for mechanical circulatory support. VADs can serve as a bridge to transplant while you wait for a donor organ. They can also provide a longer-term alternative as destination therapy. Your heart transplant team works closely with specialists from our award-winning Heart and Vascular Institute.
• Full range of heart failure care: In addition to support devices and transplants, we offer medication therapies and cardiac rehabilitation.
• Leading research: As a major research institution, we provide our patients with the opportunity to participate in heart transplant clinical trials and research. When appropriate, we offer the latest heart support devices, as well as the chance to try new medications and therapies designed to reduce infection and organ rejection.
• Multiple organ transplants: If you need more than a heart transplant, Henry Ford offers the care you need. Our transplant surgeons successfully performed Michigan’s first simultaneous heart and liver transplant in 2014.
• Personal attention: We develop a personalized plan for your specific health needs. Nurses serve as heart transplant coordinators and guide you through each step. Staff members at our guest services help you and your family with travel, lodging and other needs. You also can connect with other patients through a monthly support group. Find out more by viewing our transplant patient stories.
• Convenience: Before and after your transplant, you can get exams and blood tests at one of our heart transplant clinics located throughout Michigan.

Pediatric heart transplants

We partner with the Children’s Hospital of Michigan and its pediatric heart transplant program. When these younger patients reach adulthood, they can come to Henry Ford for their ongoing transplant care. Learn more about the Transplant Center at Children’s.

Get on the wait list sooner at Henry Ford

Getting a transplant before your health significantly declines increases the chances of success. If your medical tests are current, our FAST Track program can get you on the waitlist for a heart transplant in less than 2 weeks. Nationally, the average transplant evaluation time is 2 months.