For the second time, the heart transplant program at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center has achieved a 100% three-year survival rate, placing the program among the best in the nation.
According to newly released data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, every patient who received a heart transplant at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center between January 2020 and June 2022 was alive three years later. The national average heart transplant survival rate for this time period was 85%.
The program also ranks among the nation’s best for observed and expected pre-transplant mortality, recording zero waitlist mortality during the July 2023 to June 2025 rating period – meaning every patient awaiting a heart transplant survived. This milestone highlights the strength of the program’s comprehensive care model, from advanced heart failure management and mechanical circulatory support through transplantation, recovery and lifelong follow-up care.
“These outcomes reflect the strength of our comprehensive approach to advanced heart failure, which focuses on optimizing patients well before and throughout the transplant process—not just during surgery,” said Dr. Behzad Soleimani, chair of the Department of Surgery at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and director of the Penn State Heart and Vascular Institute. “By coordinating care across specialties and maintaining patients in the best possible condition, we are able to achieve exceptional waitlist survival and outstanding long-term transplant outcomes.”
