To Market, to market. . .

Transplant nurses Megan Sumner and Allie Wehrli recently took a stroll through the summer market at IU Health University Hospital. The market featured fresh flowers, produce, baked good and doggie treats was open to IU Health employees and guests.

Sumner joined IU Health almost eight years ago and works as an assistant manager for adult kidney, liver, pancreas, and intestinal/multivisceral transplantation. She grew up in Indianapolis and completed her nursing degree through Marian University’s accelerated program.

Working in transplant she said is rewarding because, “I like seeing patients go from being very sick to having the opportunity to live a life they never experienced.”

Wehrli, also an assistant manager, has been with IU Health for five years. She grew up in Carmel, Ind. and completed her nursing degree at Purdue University.

“I wanted to be a nurse to help people and wanted to be with them at the best and worst times,” she said. “The best part of my job is building relationships with patients and my coworkers.”

At IU Health transplant patients work with a team of professionals that includes nurses, transplant-specialized doctors, surgeons, pharmacists, nurse coordinators, social workers, and dietitians.

IU Health’s kidney transplant program is one of the largest and most experienced programs in the state. More than 250 transplants are performed annually. The pancreas transplant program is an important option for those who have difficulty controlling insulin-dependent diabetes. IU Health was the first hospital in the state to perform a pancreas transplant and the first in the world to perform a simultaneous lung/pancreas transplant. End-stage and liver disease management are also part of the transplant services offered for adults and children. The team is the only liver transplant program in Indiana and last year ranked fifth in the Unites States for volume of transplant surgeries. The team is also one of the few healthcare systems in the country to perform intestine and multivisceral transplants (a transplant that combines an intestine with two of more abdominal organs). The IU Health program ranked fifth in the country last year and completed the first multivisceral transplant in Indiana in 2003.

For neighbors, patients, family and staff members wanting to take advantage of end-of-summer fresh produce, The Indy Health District’s Floating Farmer’s Market will be near Methodist Hospital, in the Ruth Lilly parking lot September 12, September 26, and October 10 from 4-6:60 p.m.

-By TJ Banes, IU Health Senior Journalist, tfender1@iuhealth.org