Tampa General Hospital saves more lives with new transplant technology but needs more heart donations

Doctors at Tampa General Hospital saved 50 lives with heart transplants last year, ranking the hospital 22nd for most heart transplants in the country. While the technology for preserving and transporting hearts has grown by leaps and bounds in even just the last year, there are still more than 3,300 people across the country waiting for hearts, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Dennis Alvarez, 78, spent his 25-year career as a Hillsborough County judge giving many others a second chance at life, serving as Chief for 12. A few years after he retired, he received his own second chance at life with a new heart.