Tampa General's 40-Year Legacy as Top Heart Transplant Center

Tampa General Hospital performed Florida's first successful heart transplant in June 1985. Four decades later, the program has grown into the largest transplant center by volume in the United States.

The hospital completed 54 heart transplants in 2024, including three combined heart-lung procedures. Its 30-day survival outcomes rank best in the nation, according to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients. One recipient has lived more than 30 years with a transplanted heart.

"Each transplant is a second chance at life," said Dr. Lucian Lozonschi, surgical director of the Heart Transplant Center.

TGH surgeons achieved three major firsts in 2024 and early 2025. They performed Florida's first beating-heart transplant, a technique that maintains continuous blood flow to the donor heart during transport. They also completed Florida's first direct heart donation, matching a donor heart directly to a specific recipient rather than through the standard allocation system.

The three heart-lung transplants required months of planning and coordination among cardiac surgeons, pulmonologists, transplant coordinators, nurses, pharmacists and social workers.

The Heart Transplant Center operates as a partnership between Tampa General Hospital and USF Health. Heart transplant candidates typically face severe heart failure that medication or other treatments cannot manage. The evaluation process examines medical history, current health status and ability to comply with lifelong immunosuppressive medications required after surgery.

Tampa General Hospital, located at 1 Tampa General Circle in downtown Tampa, performed 889 solid organ transplants in 2024. Its Heart & Vascular Institute ranks among the top 50 in the nation for heart and vascular care.