University of Chicago Medicine physicians have completed 55 heart transplants in 2021, with two back-to-back procedures on Thanksgiving setting an Illinois state record for the year, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Nov. 26.
"Everyone on the team was thankful that they could spend that time saving a life," Sean Pinney, MD, co-director of the facility's Heart and Vascular Center, told the Chicago Sun-Times. "We love spending time with our families, but it’s truly an honor and a privilege to give up time to save and extend lives for other families."
Dr. Pinney also told the Sun-Times he expects the institution to perform 60 heart transplants by the end of the year, a jump from the state’s previous record of 54, set in 2018 by physicians at Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine.