Children’s Mercy creates transplant center for liver, kidney and heart teams

Children’s Mercy Hospital announced Thursday that it had created the Brendan Tripp Elam Transplant Center, bringing together its liver, kidney and heart transplant teams.

The center will be supported through a philanthropic gift from the family of Brendan Tripp Elam, who in December 2012 received a liver transplant at Children’s Mercy when he was 10 years old.

Children’s Mercy said the center will focus on research and quality projects, the education of the next generation of transplant physicians and surgeons, long-term support to transplant patients and recruitment of transplant experts to the hospital.

The hospital also announced that it had hired Elizabeth Reed to be the center’s administrative director. Reed previously directed the transplant program and other services at Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Ky.

Alan Bavley, abavley@kcstar.com

This story was originally published July 16, 2015 at 6:22 PM with the headline "Children’s Mercy creates transplant center for liver, kidney and heart teams."