Tom Pugh got the call while on a midday Zoom meeting for work. “We have a heart for you. Do you want it?”

It was the culmination of a seven-month medical ordeal. During that time, the research scientist suffered two heart attacks, the second so severe it nearly cost him his life; spent 65 days in intensive care; underwent surgery to have a mechanical heart pump implanted; and engaged in rehab and a home “boot camp” of stair climbing and stationary bike-riding to regather his strength so he could withstand a heart transplant. 

And then came the Nov. 12 call from Stanford Health Care, where he received what cardiothoracic surgeon Joseph Woo, MD, called a “snappy” new heart, one to match Pugh’s high energy.

“I have a lot of angels on my side,” said Pugh, 62, a microbiologist and avid cyclist from Modesto, California. “I’m a very lucky person.”

He joined 85 other lucky people in 2020 in a record-setting year for Stanford Health Care’s heart transplant program.

 “We transplanted more patients, we transplanted them faster and we have been getting great outcomes,” said Jeffrey Teuteberg, MD, chief of heart failure, cardiac transplantation and mechanical circulatory support at Stanford Health Care. “It’s a fantastic combination.”

Continuing apace despite pandemic

While the COVID-19 pandemic forced some transplant centers to temporarily slow or even shut down, Stanford Medicine’s program continued apace, as the medical center maintained enough beds for patients, who were housed in an isolated unit, and established a rigorous testing program to ensure patient safety, Teuteberg said.

“Fortunately, it had very little impact,” said Teuteberg, an associate professor of medicine. “We were very lucky here in California for most of the year compared with other parts of the country. Even with the current surge, it hasn’t had a major impact on the program.” 

Stanford, which pioneered heart transplantation, ranks as the fourth-largest transplant program in the country.