Temporary transplant program relocation to St. Pete makes history

PETERSBURG, Fla. — Pinellas County's only transplant program is located at HCA Florida Largo Hospital, but when Hurricane Milton flooded the lower floors of the facility in October, it temporarily moved to Northside Hospital in St. Petersburg. It was moved to .

“In fact, we had to appeal to the regulators to allow the transplant to continue,” said Dr. James Eason, chief abdominal transplant surgeon. “Fortunately, they gave us the approval. We believe this is the first time something like this has happened in the United States.”

Eason said the team performed 16 organ transplant surgeries at Northside Hospital over a two-month period before bringing the history-making program back to Largo Hospital on Dec. 3. These surgeries included one heart, two liver, and 13 kidney surgeries.

“We were able to continue operating as if nothing had happened and we just moved facilities,” Eason said. “Despite this natural disaster, we had the opportunity to continue transplanting.”

Had the program been canceled, hundreds of patients on transplant waiting lists would have had to start the transplant process all over again with new doctors at different hospitals.

“That would have been a huge hardship for them,” Eason said. “Being able to provide continuity of care was really important.”

Jennifer Miller, 56, of St. Petersburg, received a liver transplant on Halloween, becoming Northside Hospital's first transplant patient. Miller said she was glad she didn't have to start over.

“It wouldn't have been good for me,” she said. “I've built relationships with all these doctors.”

Miller said the surgery went well and she is grateful for her new life.

“I'm doing well and thank God for this whole team,” she said. “I have a second chance at life.”

The transplant program launched in one week on the Northside. Eason said this is a significant resource-intensive task and will take a village to complete.

“We were really fortunate to be able to find a hospital that met our needs and have the whole team, which is really the most important thing,” he said. “We bring our staff here, we have doctors, nurses, surgeons, pharmacists, social workers and the entire hospital inside the hospital.”

As of Monday, there were more than 500 people on Largo Hospital's transplant waiting list, Eason said.