After being discharged, Earl Drinkard Jr. was wheeled through the Providence Hospital lobby lined with his caregivers and other staff. They cheered and waved pompoms as he passed by.
By Michelle Ryan-Day Earl Drinkard Jr., 33, might not have walked out of USA Health Providence Hospital on Friday, April 24, if not for theECMO program that had been unveiled in early March.
ECMO, or Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation, offers an advanced life support option for critically ill patients by taking 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. Providence recently became the first hospital in the region to offer this potentially lifesaving care…