40 Years of Groundbreaking Heart Transplants at TGH
June marks a profound milestone for Tampa General Hospital (TGH) as we commemorate the 40th anniversary of our inaugural heart transplant. In June 1985, TGH became the first hospital in Florida to successfully perform a heart transplant, charting a bold new course for cardiovascular innovation and lifesaving care.
Today, the legacy continues with renewed vigor and historic accomplishments. In 2024, 54 heart transplants were performed at TGH, including three combined heart-lung transplants, a testament to the program’s surgical expertise and multidisciplinary excellence. Our longest-surviving heart transplant recipient now celebrates more than three decades of life with their gifted heart, a living testament to the power of perseverance and progress. According to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR), TGH’s one-year heart transplant survival rates surpass national averages, and our 30-day survival outcomes are the best in the United States.
These remarkable achievements are made possible by the unwavering dedication of our world-class team at TGH and USF Health — including our Heart Transplant Center Medical Director, Dr. Benjamin Mackie, and Surgical Director, Dr. Lucian Lozonschi — alongside gifted cardiologists, transplant coordinators, nurses, social workers, pharmacists and countless other professionals. “Being a part of a patient’s heart transplant journey is an honor and a privilege,” Mackie noted, reflecting the profound commitment that inspires each member of the team. “Each transplant is not just a surgery — it’s a second chance at life,” Lozonschi said. “We carry the weight of that responsibility with high esteem and steady precision.”
Over the past four decades, TGH has built one of the most dynamic and robust cardiac transplant programs in the country. TGH and our Heart & Vascular Institute are ranked among the Top 50 hospitals in the nation — and second in Florida — for cardiology and heart surgery by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals 2024–2025. In addition, the TGH Transplant Institute was recognized in 2024 as the largest transplant center by volume in the United States, having performed a record 889 solid organ transplants.
Among several advancements, in 2024 TGH surgeons performed:
• three heart-lung transplants, a rare and demanding operation requiring months of precision planning and seamless teamwork;
• the first “beating-heart” transplant in Florida and the Southeast, preserving continuous perfusion to improve viability and recovery;
• and earlier this year, Florida’s first direct heart donation, in which a donor heart was matched and transported directly to a specific recipient — a breakthrough in logistics and personalized care.
As we mark this 40-year anniversary, we pause to honor the enduring legacy of all who made these miracles possible — patients, families, donors and the tireless teams who serve them. At the TGH Heart & Vascular Institute and Transplant Institute, innovation, compassion and excellence remain our guiding values as we continue to write the future of heart care — one precious heartbeat at a time.