After receiving a liver transplant in January, 65-year-old Las Vegas resident Daniel Campbell says the Loma Linda Liver Clinic in Las Vegas has been vital to his recovery.
Campbell, a prominent local structural engineer, was diagnosed with liver disease five years ago. Shortly after his diagnosis he was placed on the transplant list. While he waited, he developed three tumors in the liver and had to undergo treatments to fight the tumors. Just as his liver was beginning to fail completely, he finally received a transplant.
“Loma Linda University Health is a gift to this region and I am really impressed,” Campbell says. “They are not only the best in their field of medicine but they are also compassionate, caring people, and I cannot imagine that it gets better than this.”
The Loma Linda University Transplant Institute, the only permanent hepatology and liver transplant clinic in Las Vegas, Nevada, continues to meet hepatology and liver transplant patients’ needs through availability, treatment options and compassionate service. Since the inception of the Nevada-based clinic in early 2017, people suffering from cirrhosis or needing pre- and post-liver transplant services now have access to care on a regular basis, making their treatments more convenient. The clinic now treats up to 80 patients a month.
The satellite clinic also offers autoimmune hepatitis management, hepatocellular carcinoma treatment, hepatitis treatments, general hepatology care, treatment for fatty liver issues and satellite support groups. The clinic is open 5-days-per-week, supervised by Dr. Michael Volk, MD – a nationally recognized hepatologist and medical director of the Loma Linda liver transplant program.
This accessibility is what allowed Campbell to return home to Las Vegas quickly after surgery. The prominitent engineer was instrumental in helping construct some of the most notable features on the Las Vegas strip, such as the Statue of Liberty replica at the New York – New York Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. Work is his passion, and because he could receive his after-care at the Las Vegas clinic he was up and back to work in just a few days post-transplant.
Corrie Berk, DNP, hepatology and liver transplant nurse practitioner at the Las Vegas clinic says that after someone like Campbell has a liver transplant they are under the care of a team of physicians for the rest of their life because they need close monitoring and maintenance. “I want residents in Las Vegas to know that Loma Linda University Health is here for them through every step of their journey,” Berk says. “They do not have to travel long distances or struggle to find care now that we are in their city.”
Berk notes that the rate of referrals has grown from two per week in the beginning to now 10 per week. She says the success of the clinic can be attributed to the collaboration of the entire team ensuring that every person who comes through their doors is treated the way the founders of Loma Linda University Health intended: ‘To Make Man Whole’. “I practice very wholistic care post- and pre-transplant,” Berk says. “I do not see them as a post-transplant patient. They are a whole patient who received a liver.”
If you or a family member would like to be treated for cirrhosis or want to know more about the post-transplant resources available at the Las Vegas clinic, call 702-823-0004.