Ventricular Assist Device Program

Vanderbilt Health is one of the top heart transplant programs in the world, providing patients with outstanding outcomes and access to innovative new research and treatments. We have implanted more than 500 ventricular assist devices. Our team offers a multidisciplinary patient centered approach to care. We are dedicated to improving quality of life of advanced heart failure patient through research and innovation.

Our left ventricular assist device program outcomes regularly exceed national standards.

We offer mechanical support options while you wait for a heart transplant—or sometimes instead of a transplant. For example, a ventricular assist device (VAD) allows you to live normally at home. As one of the first hospitals in the Southeast to offer VADs, we’ve implanted more than 500, including implanting the first total artificial heart in 2018. We were also among the first to provide extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for patients with severe conditions.

Our VAD team specializes in many cutting-edge treatments including minimally invasive surgeries and non-invasive procedures performed while on VAD support. The VAD program also leads many innovative programs such as VAD optimization, Heart Recovery with VAD, Remote Heart Monitoring with VAD and Weight loss with VAD.

We are one of only five advanced heart failure and VAD programs designated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide heart transplants to our nation’s veterans.

Vanderbilt VAD program is a multispecialty program that provides comprehensive care to all patients. Through a unique collaboration between various disciplines of medicine and surgery, we offer specialized care for those with adult congenital heart disease, heart arrhythmias and obesity. We were the first program in the state of Tennessee to offer Total Artificial Heart for biventricular failure and the only program in Tennessee to offer bariatric surgery for weight loss while on VAD support.

Vanderbilt is consistently ranked among the nation’s best by leading authorities on health care quality. People from throughout the Southeast and across the country rely on us for the best and most innovative care possible. 

We work together to ensure that you receive the comprehensive care you need. Our team members collaborate with each other, as well as with experts in other medical disciplines, to provide you with individual care that addresses your unique needs.