Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical staff celebrates the release of Paul Clifford on Tuesday June 3, 2025 after his heart transplant two weeks earlier.
The program leads Pennsylvania in post-transplantation survival rates
Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center has taken an important step in his inheritance of heart excellence, which lasted his 600th cardiac transplantation on May 19. There remains the only state hospital outside of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia offering cardiac transplantation.
June 10, 2025
The stage transplant was played on Paul Clifford by State College, Pennsylvania, who recovered well after receiving his new heart just a day after his 51st anniversary.
In 2015, Clifford received a diagnosis of electrical problems in his heart which required a cardiac stimulator. Two years later, concerned about family history of heart disease, he suffered genetic tests and learned that he was carrying a genetic marker linked to a progressive condition that would gradually weaken the ability of his heart to pump blood. This capacity is measured by something called ejection fraction, which is the percentage of blood that the heart pumps with each beat. A normal ejection fraction is generally between 50 and 70%. At the time of its transplantation, the clifford ejection fraction fell to less than 20%.
Clifford was dismissed from the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center on June 3 with a surprise shipment, while the staff and members of his care team aligned the rooms to celebrate his trip and wish him good luck in his recovery.
“It’s not something that people are going through several times, so I didn’t know where the best place was to be careful,” said Clifford. “But with hindsight, I don’t think I could have received better care anywhere in the world I did here at Penn State Health.”
Milton S. Hershey Medical Center has been a leader in cardiac transplantation since its first cardiac transplantation in 1984. Over the years, his team of clinicians has developed a complete and multidisciplinary program that includes pre-transplantation, surgery and life-monitoring care. Patients also receive support to meet their emotional, nutritional and financial needs, ensuring that they receive the best possible treatment throughout their journey.
“Our 600th transplant reflects the strength of our whole team and the total confidence that our patients are part of us,” said Dr Behzad SoleimaniDirector of Penn State Heart and Vascular Institute, President of the Department of Surgery, and John Anton and Marian Trescher Waldhausen Chair in Surgery at the Penn State College of Medicine, “Each transplant is a renewed life, and we are proud to continue this work with compassion, innovation and excellence”.
The program regularly ranks among the best in the country for the survival of transplantation. According to data published in January by the scientific register of transplantation beneficiaries, the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center cardiac transplant program obtained a three -year -old survival rate of 97.22% – the highest in Pennsylvania and well above the national average of 84.71%.
Penn State Heart and Vascular Institute Extends his commitment to advance heart care thanks to research and innovation. Doctors and scientists at the Heart and Vascular Institute are actively involved in clinical trials to improve transplanting results, including new ways to monitor patients transplanted using simple blood tests and to test safer drugs to prevent organ rejection after transplantation.
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