Artemis Hospital has inaugurated its cutting-edge Heart and Lung Transplant Centre in Gurugram, designed to provide comprehensive thoracic transplant and mechanical circulatory support services in North India. This advanced facility aims to deliver high-quality transplant care to patients from Gurgaon, NCR, and neighbouring states, eliminating the need to travel to southern India for such specialized procedures. Dr. Devlina Chakravarty, MD & CEO of Artemis Hospitals Group, shares insights about this milestone with the IMT Team, highlighting the centre’s role as a vital regional hub for heart and lung transplantation.
- How does the launch of the Artemis Heart & Lung Transplant Centre strengthen the healthcare ecosystem for complex transplants in North India?
The establishment of the Artemis Heart & Lung Transplant Centre provides the people of North India with a top-tier facility for highly complex thoracic transplants. This means that patients no longer have to travel to the South for advanced care. By providing full pre- and post-operative support for heart, lung and combined transplants, it fills an important gap in the region. This center improves the skills of local professionals, strengthens referral networks and raises the standard for transplant services in the area.
- What unique advantages does the collaboration with KIMS and Dr. Sandeep Attawar bring in terms of protocols, training, and clinical outcomes?
Working with KIMS and Dr. Sandeep Attawar guarantees you a level of expertise that is recognized around the world, as well as a history of great clinical results. Dr. Attawar’s team has decades of experience and uses protocols for heart and lung transplants that are accepted around the world. They also train surgical, nursing and critical care teams. This partnership shares the best ways to choose patients, manage them during surgery and care for them after the transplant. This lets Artemis meet international standards from the start and keep high survival rates and patient satisfaction.
- The centre enables patients to be listed in multiple states. How will this capability improve organ matching and reduce wait times in practice?
When patients can be listed in multiple states, it becomes significantly easier to match organs and reduce wait times. The chances of finding a suitable organ sooner improve if the donor pool is not limited to just one state. This feature lowers the chance of disease progression while waiting and ensures that patients can have their transplants at the best time, which improves the results of the surgery and the long-term survival rates of heart and lung recipients.
- Can you elaborate on the advanced infrastructure and technologies — such as ECMO, LVADs, and mechanical circulatory support — that set Artemis apart as a transplant hub?
Artemis features next-generation infrastructure and technology for the management of your most complex transplant cases. This includes Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) for severe heart-lung support, Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs) for advanced heart failure and even full mechanical circulatory support devices. Technology can provide a life-saving bridge-to-transplant or destination therapy, keeping you stable and eligible for surgery while waiting for suitable donor organs.
- How is Artemis building referral partnerships with hospitals, cardiologists, and pulmonologists across Haryana, Delhi NCR, Uttar Pradesh, and beyond?
Artemis is working hard to build partnerships with hospitals, cardiologists and pulmonologists in Haryana, Delhi NCR, Uttar Pradesh and nearby states so that they can help patients in a wide area. The hospital gives local doctors training sessions, clear referral protocols and easy ways to talk to each other so they can find transplant candidates early. This cooperative method makes sure that transfers happen on time, care is coordinated and outcomes are better.
- What steps is the hospital taking to work with insurers, corporates, and government health programs to make heart and lung transplants more financially accessible?
Artemis is working with insurers, corporate health programs and government programs to expand coverage, knowing that heart and lung transplants can be expensive. Negotiations are going on with major insurance companies to include transplant packages and partnerships with big employers and state health departments will help pay for them. The hospital is also looking into new ways to pay for things and working with nonprofits to help patients and their families pay less.
- Awareness of deceased organ donation remains lower in the North compared to the South. How does Artemis plan to address this challenge?
Artemis plans to launch sustained awareness initiatives to promote deceased organ donation across North India, where registration rates remain relatively low. The hospital will partner with community organizations and health authorities to undertake education drives, workshops and donor registration events. These campaigns will include the sharing of real-life cases of success and work with workplaces and faith groups, resulting in a positive attitude towards organ donation and readiness to register as a donor with the ultimate goal of improving access to life-saving transplants.
- What quality and safety benchmarks or global protocols (such as ISHLT standards) will guide Artemis’ transplant outcomes and reporting?
To ensure the best quality and safety, the centre will follow international standards like the guidelines from the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT). Protocols include strict matching of donors and recipients, advanced infection control measures and clear reporting of outcomes. Artemis will check results on a regular basis and give information to the Indian Heart and Lung Transplant Registry. This promise to follow global standards ensures that everyone is responsible, that clinical excellence is always high and that patients, families and the medical community as a whole can trust each other.
- What are your first-year goals in terms of transplant volumes, team building, and regional outreach, and how will you measure success?
Artemis wants to do several dozen transplants in its first year, build a team of experts from different fields and become the region’s main transplant centre. The success of this project will be based on how well patients do, how quickly organs are matched and how strong the referral partnerships are. The hospital plans to hire more surgeons, anaesthesiologists and transplant coordinators. It will also do regular community outreach to raise awareness and build a steady supply of donor organs and patient referrals.
- Looking ahead, does Artemis plan to expand into pediatric heart and lung transplants or other advanced transplant services in the future?
As demand grows and Artemis’s knowledge grows, the company plans to branch out into pediatric heart and lung transplants and other advanced thoracic procedures. The hospital is putting money into special training for pediatric transplant surgeons and support staff. It is also looking into working with top hospitals around the world. This forward-thinking approach makes sure that the facility will keep growing as a leader in transplant care, giving hope to younger patients and their families all over North India.
