Florida Hospital Achieves Lung Transplant Status

A cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon with more than 28 years of experience, Dr. Hartmuth Bittner recently founded the Gulf Coast Cardiothoracic Surgery Institute in Tampa, Florida, where he performs minimally invasive procedures with a focus on advanced-stage and high-risk patients. Previously, Dr. Hartmuth Bittner helped Florida Hospital achieve its status as the first lung transplant center in central Florida.

In 2012, Florida Hospital achieved the designation from the United Network for Organ Sharing, which governs and oversees transplant programs around the country. The designation marked an important step in becoming a comprehensive transplant center. The facility achieved lung transplant status more than 35 years after it performed its first organ transplant, which was a kidney transplant. By 2012, the hospital had performed nearly 3,000 organ transplants, including pancreas and liver transplants.

The 2012 designation as a lung transplant center expanded the hospital’s capacity to serve local patients who previously had to travel to other parts of the state. Each year, the hospital sees up to 20 patients who need lung transplants, most of them due to pulmonary fibrosis.