Mission Mater's Magazine - Flipbook - Page 13
And Jim doesn9t hang around. 8With the additional
recruitment of my colleagues Professor Lars Nölke,
Professor Karen Redmond and Professor David Healy,
the volume of activity increased annually such that in
2019 we achieved the 6th largest volume of activity per
head of population in the world9 he tells me. In 2011, he
was appointed by the HSE as the Director of Organ
Donation and Transplant Ireland (ODTI).
Jim decided to apply for the post of Executive Clinical
Director In 2019, 8observing the very extreme challenges
that were existing in the A&E department and seeing how
they adversely impacted significantly on scheduled
surgical activity, including cardiothoracic, lung
transplant and cancer surgeries etc.9
He was appointed in February
2020 and was immediately
confronted with the Covid
pandemic and all the incredible
problems that came with it from a
clinical perspective. Much as I
might try to steer the conversation
to himself, Jim keeps coming back
however to the people he works
with.9
8My job is rewarding because of the
extraordinary productivity of all the
clinical teams in MMUH,9 he says. 8It has always
been such a great pleasure growing the different services
in conjunction with my consultant colleagues and
NCHDs,9 he continues. 8My nursing colleagues, both on
St Cecilia9s Ward, Heart & Lung and the Intensive Care
Unit, have always been supportive with every crazy new
idea we introduced,9 he admits honestly.
And of course, at the centre of these wonderful
transplant stores are the patients and when I push him
(8all transplant patients are inspirational9 he says) Jim
fondly recalls one woman in particular. 8Deirdre Doherty
was the recipient of a heart & lung transplant in 1996, in
Great Ormond Street Hospital London. I had the
privilege of taking over her care in 2000 and over her
journey, in addition to her heart & lung transplant, she
underwent two kidney transplants and had two
successful pregnancies, resulting in two healthy
daughters. Deirdre continued to work as a national
schoolteacher during her various medical challenges9 he
continues, but 8regrettably passed away last year, after a
heroic medical journey9 he says, with more than a hint of
sadness.
25 years ago
Prof. Jim Egan
had to locate
the Mater
Hospital on a map!
So next time you pass Jim in the corridor,
spare a thought for all those people who,
because of Jim, his colleagues and of course
their donors, lead the full and wonderful lives
today that we all deserve but sadly sometimes,
are not lucky enough to receive.
Jim Egan for the next Nobel Prize for
Medicine? Stranger things….
But you know what? I feel pretty confident to
suggest that he would swap it all in a
heartbeat, to have that All-Ireland medal for
Galway.
Did you know?
1.
People working in the Heart & Lung
Transplant Unit in the Mater?
·Approximately 75 staff
2. Breakdown?
·Transplant & Retrieval Surgeons – 11
·Heart & Lung Transplant Consultants 6,
NCHDs 6
·ICU/Anaesthetic Consultants – 4
·Microbiology Consultants – 2
·Health & Social Care – 2 Physio, 1 Medical
Social Work, 1 Dietician, 1 Pharmacy, 2
Psychology, 1 Speech & Language
·Nurses/ ANPs/ CNM2/ HCA – 31
·Administration – 6
3. The Department's greatest medical
innovation in recent years?
·The successful combined double lung and liver
transplant for Cystic Fibrosis patient in 2019.
Prof. Jim Egan is Director of Organ Donation & Transplant
Ireland: He remains, of course, entirely dependent on his
wonderful colleagues
PA GE
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