Nicklaus Children's Hospital

Overview

Nicklaus Children’s Hospital’s Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program is South Florida’s first and most experienced care provider for children requiring blood or bone marrow transplantation. The program is one of only two pediatric blood and marrow transplant centers in South Florida and performs more than 30 blood and marrow transplants per year. Established in 1991, the program was originally accredited in 2003 by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapies (FACT) for all aspects of blood or marrow transplantation (cellular therapy). The program continues to meet the rigorous FACT standards, having achieved its most recent reaccreditation in 2020. FACT accreditation is given to organizations that exceed standards in patient care and laboratory practices.

This center has been performing allogeneic transplants since 1991 and has been an NMDP transplant center since May 2000.

Attending physicians

Adult - Jorge Galvez Silva, Ossama Maher
Pediatric - Jorge Galvez Silva, Ossama Maher

Transplants performed

Marrow/PBSC, single cord, and double cord

Cord blood transplants

Pediatric only

Other programs and services

We treat patients with malignant and non-malignant disorders, and use both Autologous and Allogeneic donors. It includes peripheral blood, bone marrow and cord blood (single or double), from HLA-matched family members, haplo-identical family members and unrelated donors.
The Nicklaus Children's Hospital Blood and Marrow Transplant Program offers the following services to its patients and families:
- New BMT unit which opened in Fall of 2016 and includes 7 private HEPA filtered, positive pressure patient rooms.
- Family room for our Bone Marrow Transplant families with a dining area, refrigerator, microwave, and a full bathroom with a shower.
- Complimentary laundry services are offered through the hospital’s Michael Fux Family Center
- For families living more than one hour away, we provide on coordination of lodging near our hospital.
- As a freestanding children's hospital, Nicklaus Children’s provides a multidisciplinary care approach starting from the pre-transplant stage through discharge and post-transplant follow-up care.
- To enhance the overall patient experience, our program is supported by services that include Child Life Specialists, Music Therapists, Pet Therapists, and Art Therapists.
- The unit’s education coordinator offers individualized education plans for each child throughout their treatment.

Patient survival information for this center

This center's actual 1-year survival results are above the expected rate for this center*.

The survival information we have for this center includes ONLY:

Patients who had their FIRST ALLOGENEIC transplant (cells from a related or unrelated donor/cord blood) during 2020, 2021, 2022 and
Who had their transplant at a U.S. transplant center, and
Who had follow-up information provided by the transplant center for analysis

For this center, we have survival information for 45 patients.

The actual 1-year survival of these patients is 97.8%.

Compared to similar patients transplanted at all centers in the U.S., we expect that the 1-year survival for patients at this center to be in a range between 79.5% and 97.2%.

For help with understanding these statistics, please see Understanding Transplant Outcomes.

For overall survival for all patients transplanted with a specific disease, please see U.S. Patient Survival report

at bloodcell.transplant.hrsa.gov.

* The expected survival rate for a transplant center can be below, similar to, or above the range listed. This is based on comparing patient survival at all centers that treated patients with similar diseases.

The survival rate cannot tell how you will do with your transplant. Talk to your doctor to understand your prognosis or the likely course of your disease.

Total pediatric transplants

64

Transplants reported by the centers (from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023)

	Marrow	PBSC	Cord blood	Total
Allogeneic
Related donor	Marrow 25	PBSC 0	Cord blood 3	Total 28
Unrelated donor	Marrow 3	PBSC 2	Cord blood 4	Total 9
Total allogeneic	Marrow 28	PBSC 2	Cord blood 7	Total 37
Autologous	Marrow Both marrow & PBSC 27	PBSC —	Cord blood —	Total 27
Total combined	Marrow Both marrow & PBSC 57	PBSC —	Cord blood 7	Total 64

All Diseases

Number of transplants by age reported from January 1, 2022 to December 31st, 2023(includes marrow, PBSC and cord blood)

	0-18	19-44	45-64	65+	Total
Related	0-18 26	19-44 2	45-64 0	65+ 0	Total 28
Unrelated	0-18 8	19-44 1	45-64 0	65+ 0	Total 9
Autologous	0-18 27	19-44 0	45-64 0	65+ 0	Total 27
Total	0-18 61	19-44 3	45-64 0	65+ 0	Total 64

Treatments may be similar for diseases within a group. It might be helpful to look at centers that have done transplants for a specific disease and centers that have done transplants for any corresponding broad disease categories.

Centers are not required to report autologous transplants so the numbers might be incomplete.

More information about transplants can be found:

U.S. Transplant Data by Center (Opens in a new tab)
report at blood cell.transplant.hrsa.gov
List of diseases

Transplant center resources

Transplant center coordinator

Yelaine Garcia

Phone: 786-624-3941

Email: yelaine.garcia@nicklaushealth.org

If you have questions about costs and financial services at this center, please call the transplant center’s direct phone number.

NMDP patient navigators

Patient navigators can answer your questions about choosing a transplant center and provide support and education to help you throughout your transplant journey.

Inside the United States: 1 (888) 999-6743
Outside the United States: 1 (763) 406-3410. (Long distance or international charges may apply.)

Email: patientinfo@nmdp.org

More resources

Choosing a transplant center
Preparing for transplant
Learn about transplant outcomes and treatment decisions (Opens in a new tab)
Support and resources (including non-English materials)
U.S. Transplant Data by Center (Opens in a new tab)
at blood cell.transplant.hrsa.gov

Survive & Thrive Clinic

3100 SW 62 AVE

Miami, FL 33155

Phone:786-624-4639

Physician Referrals:786-624-4639

Email:E Jennifer.Ruano@nicklaushealth.org

For more information about this program: https://www.nicklauschildrens.org/medical-services/cancer-center/programs/survivorship-program

Overview

Survive & Thrive is designed to help pediatric cancer survivors optimize their health and quality of life. Our childhood cancer survivors are seen annually in a comprehensive clinic lead by a pediatric oncology healthcare provider (MD/NP). Our school coordinator, social worker, and registered dietician are also available on-site at each clinic. Medical specialists are available on an as-needed basis by referral.

Staff

Program Director:Jorge Galvez Silva, MD

Program Coordinator:Jennifer A. Ruano, BSN, RN, CPHON, BMT-CN

Medical Specialties in Program

Allergy/immunology, cardiology, dentistry, dermatology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, general surgery, gynecology, hematology, infectious disease, nephrology, neurology, oncology, ophthalmology/optometry, orthopedics, otolaryngology, palliative care, psychiatry/psychology, pulmonology, rheumatology, urology.

Medical Services Offered

Chronic GVHD management, fertility counseling, reproductive health, financial counseling, genetic counseling, nutrition/dietetics, occupational therapy, pain management, physical therapy and rehabilitation, sexual health, social services, vaccinations.

Telemedicine services are available.

Patient Eligibility

Children

Allogeneic and Autologous transplant recipients
2 years after transplant.
Patients who were transplanted as a child at this center with no upper age limit
Does accept patients who were transplanted at another hospital
- Will admit pediatric patients who transferred into the program if they are under age 22

Nicklaus Children's Hospital

Locations

Transplant Summary

Overview

Attending physicians

Transplants performed

Cord blood transplants

Other programs and services

Patient survival information for this center

Total pediatric transplants

64

All Diseases

Transplant center resources

NMDP patient navigators

More resources

Survive & Thrive Clinic

Overview

Staff

Medical Specialties in Program

Medical Services Offered

Patient Eligibility

Explore

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