DHR Health celebrates one-year milestone with Valley’s only ECMO program

Special to the Advance

DHR Health announced the one-year anniversary of its extracorporeal membrane oxygenation program, marking a milestone in patient care for the Rio Grande Valley. Serving as the only hospital in the region to offer a life-saving system like ECMO, DHR Health commemorated its achievement with a conference on March 6 at the Edinburg Conference Center of Renaissance.

ECMO is the most advanced life support system in the world used for critically ill patients with cardiac or respiratory failure. The system works by temporarily replacing the function of the heart and lungs, oxygenating the patient’s blood outside the body, then returning it back to the patient’s body.

Dr. Andrew Phillips, a Mission native returned to the Rio Grande Valley in 2021 to start the program, which launched in February 2023. He serves as medical director of the ECMO program at DHR Health.

“Patients in the Rio Grande Valley now have the same access to the most advanced life support interventions as patients in other metropolitan areas—as they should, said Dr. Phillips, who completed his residency and fellowship at Stanford University and was faculty in the cardiothoracic intensive care unit at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before returning to the Valley. “The equipment and techniques used at DHR Health are the same as these highly regarded institutions,” he added.

When a patient undergoes ECMO placement, a multidisciplinary team of specialized medical experts, including intensivists, pulmonologists, cardiologists, perfusionists, nurses and others, work together to help stabilize the patient.

The ECMO program also plays an important role in DHR Health’s designation as a Level I Trauma Center. “ECMO is very necessary to a Level 1 Trauma Center because you can’t really say you’re doing everything possible for patients without the support of ECMO,” explained DHR Health Level 1 Trauma Director Dr. Jeffrey Skubic. “It is rare that you need it, but when you do, the patient will die without it.”

At the event, ECMO patients and their families reunited with the dedicated DHR Health physicians and staff members who provided their treatment and support. Making an appearance was Jose E. Altamirano Brown, who was supported by ECMO for more than a month and is now enjoying life with his wife, April, and 6-month-old son.

Story Courtesy
DHR Health