USA Health Providence Hospital launches ECMO program with ribbon cutting
More than unveiling modern technology, the ECMO program is the fulfillment of a promise to the community.
By Michelle Ryan-Day
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USA Health Providence Hospital marked a significant milestone today in front of a nearly standing-room-only crowd in its lobby, where University of South Alabama and USA Health administrators, care teams, staff and local government officials gathered to celebrate the ribbon cutting of the region’s first Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) program.
This means that critically ill patients can now receive one of the most advanced forms of life support without leaving Mobile. The ceremony reflected not only the unveiling of new technology, but the fulfillment of a promise to the community.
“Your presence speaks volumes about what this moment means to the University of South Alabama and to USA Health, to Providence Hospital, and to the entire Gulf Coast,” said Natalie Fox, DNP, CEO of USA Health. “Because today is more than just a ribbon cutting. Today is a statement about who we are and who we are becoming together.”
Fox emphasized that USA Health’s role as the academic health system for the University of South Alabama carries a responsibility to expand access to highly specialized care close to home.
“With the launch of this ECMO program, we've become the first in the region to have this level of life-saving support,” she said. “When the unthinkable happens, we are ready, and being ready matters.”
ECMO temporarily takes over the function of the heart and/or lungs when conventional therapies fail, oxygenating blood and maintaining circulation while giving patients time to recover or offering a bridge to transplant or other advanced therapies.
“Before this program, patients in our region who required ECMO had to be transported hours away, often while unstable, or in some cases could not access this level of care at all,” said William Ricks, M.D., ECMO medical director at Providence Hospital. “For our community, this means access to tertiary-level critical care without leaving the region.”
He described ECMO as “not just about machines,” but about a coordinated system of care, one that elevates the entire standard of critical care across the hospital and region.
“Today, we dedicate not just a program, but a commitment,” Ricks said. “A commitment to excellence in critical care, to access for our community, to collaboration across hospitals, and a commitment to fighting for the sickest patients when others might say there's nothing left to do.”
The journey to bring ECMO to Mobile was deeply personal for Mobile County Commissioner Randall Dueitt.
After witnessing a friend survive because of ECMO and losing another friend, Kent Bailey, during the COVID-19 pandemic when ECMO was unavailable locally, Dueitt made it his mission to close the gap in care.
When the Mobile County Commission received grants from State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) under the American Rescue Plan Act, Dueitt said ECMO was the first thing that came to his mind.
“There's no better thing to spend this money on,” he said, “to save lives, not only in Mobile County, not only in our community, but in the region.”
The program is funded in part through SLFRF under the American Rescue Plan Act, administered by the Mobile County Commission.
Providence Hospital CEO Rick Metzger, MMHC, BSN, RN, reflected on the teamwork and preparation required to launch such a complex service.
More than a year of preparation included specialized training for 12 ICU nurses, collaboration with perfusionists, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, laboratory teams, surgeons and a multidisciplinary ECMO Steering Committee.
“It truly takes a team arm-in-arm to make a program like this possible,” Metzger said. “Clearly, we need machines and all the adjunct technology to make a program like this happen. Equipment is important. But the most important part of a program like this is our caregivers.”
