WVU Heart and Vascular Institute named ELSO Platinum Level Center of Excellence

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The WVU Heart and Vascular Institute has been designated a Platinum Level Center of Excellence by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO). 

“Platinum designation reflects the highest tier of excellence, placing us in the top 2 percent of all adult ECMO programs worldwide – a distinction that is a direct reflection of the extraordinary dedication, expertise, and collaboration of our entire multidisciplinary team of nurses, perfusionists, specialists, respiratory therapists, anesthesiologists, intensivists, and surgeons,” J.W. Awori Hayanga, M.D., M.P.H., director of the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute ECMO Program, said.  

The ELSO Awards’ goal is to recognize and honor ECMO programs that reach the highest level of performance, innovation, satisfaction and quality.

A designated Center of Excellence has demonstrated extraordinary achievement in the following three categories:

• Excellence in promoting the mission, activities, and vision of ELSO;
• Excellence in patient care by using the highest quality measures, processes, and structures based upon evidence; and
• Excellence in training, education, collaboration, and communication supporting ELSO guidelines that contributes to a healing environment for families, patients, and staff.

For patients, the Award demonstrates:

• Assurance of high-quality standards;
• The use of specialized equipment and supplies;
• Defined patient protocols, and
• Advanced education of all staff members.

The ELSO Award of Excellence was developed to recognize ECLS centers that utilize the ELSO Guidelines for ECMO Centers and Training and Education. Additionally, the ECMO Program is reviewed for indicators in quality, value of care, and benchmarking categories.

“Central to our mission at WVU Medicine and the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute of providing the most advanced and highest-quality care to all we serve is the skill of the superb team of providers that grace our institutions,” Vinay Badhwar, M.D., executive chair of the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, said. 

“With the ELSO Platinum Award, we celebrate the confidence in this skill of our team to provide precise and compassionate care for every patient who we receive in their gravest hour of need.”

The award was first available for application in 2006. The levels Silver, Gold, and Platinum were introduced in 2015.

The WVU Heart and Vascular Institute received the ELSO Center of Excellence Silver Life Support Award in 2018 followed by the Gold Level Center of Excellence designation in 2021 and 2023.

The Institute’s Platinum Level Center of Excellence Designation was presented on Sept. 27 at the 36^th Annual ELSO Conference in Washington, D.C. It goes into effect in January for three years.

“The WVU Heart and Vascular Institute was proudly represented by our members of our multidisciplinary team. We were recognized for our global leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and for our scientific contributions, including the Cannulate Extubate Ambulate strategy, early tracheostomy, longitudinal follow up of ECMO survivors, adaptation to resource constrained care and management of patients with high BMI,” Dr. Hayanga said. 

“These works have earned speaking invitations nationally and form the foundation of our mentoring efforts to nearly 70 centers worldwide.”

For more information on the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, visit WVUMedicine.org/Heart.