Jackson Memorial Hospital's Miami Transplant Institute is the largest transplant center in the U.S., performing more transplants in 2019 than any U.S. center has ever performed in a single year.[4] It is the only hospital in Florida to perform every kind of
organ transplant for both adult and pediatric patients.[5]
It is currently the third-largest public hospital and third-largest teaching hospital in the
United States. The hospital is a referral center, a magnet for research and home to the Ryder Trauma Center, the only Level 1 adult and pediatric
trauma center in
Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in the nation.[citation needed]
Jackson Memorial is the centerpiece of the
Jackson Health System, owned and operated by
Miami-Dade County through the Public Health Trust. The hospital is supported by Miami-Dade County residents through a half-cent sales tax. In 2014, the Public Health Trust received $364 million in unrestricted funds from Miami-Dade County. In 2013, Miami-Dade voters approved a separate $830 million bond program for major upgrades to the facility.[citation needed]
Rankings and awards
In 2015, Jackson Memorial Hospital received one star out of a possible best of five stars in the Medicare.Gov Hospital Compare survey.[citation needed] In 2007, three University of Miami specialties[clarification needed] at Jackson Memorial Hospital were ranked among the best in the country by U.S. News & World Report: The University of Miami Bascom Palmer Eye Institute was ranked as the best
ophthalmologic center in the nation, Jackson Memorial's
Ear, Nose and Throat program was ranked 17th-best in the nation, and its digestive disorders and
kidney disease programs were ranked 32nd-best in the nation.
Jackson Memorial is home to Holtz Children's Hospital, which has 254 licensed beds and cares for children—newborn to 21 years old—with everything from common ailments to multi-organ transplants. Holtz was ranked among the top hospitals in treating child kidney disorders.[6]
In 2007,[7] Jackson Memorial Hospital denied a lesbian,
Janice Langbehn, access to her partner of 17 years as she was dying of an
aneurysm.[8] Langbehn also claimed that Jackson refused to take medical information about her partner from Langbehn, and ignored a
power of attorney sent via fax to the hospital's trauma center.[9]
A lawsuit was filed against the hospital as a result. Jackson stated that "it has no obligation to allow their patients' visitors nor any obligation whatsoever to their patients’ families, healthcare surrogates, and visitors."[10] The presiding judge,
Adalberto Jordan, dismissed the case, stating that Langbehn had no relief under Florida law.[9][11] Jordan found that Langbehn had not been "denied the right to make any medical decision on behalf of" her partner.[9]
Two days after Jackson's announcement, in part as a result of Langbehn's story, President
Barack Obama issued a memorandum ordering hospitals receiving
Medicare and
Medicaid funding to allow patients to decide who can visit them and prohibit discrimination, including
sexual orientation and
gender identity.[7][12]
Notable events
In 2004, the owner of two
Subway franchises located inside Jackson Memorial Hospital came up with selling foot-long
subs for a lower price at his two stores on the weekends to help spur business. It eventually led to the
Subway $5 footlong promotion, which was launched nationally in 2008 and became Subway's most successful promotion ever, influencing other businesses.[13]
On June 7, 2012, 16-year-old Yasser Lopez made national news when he successfully underwent a delicate three-hour
neurosurgical operation to remove a spear that a speargun fired into his skull when it was accidentally discharged during a fishing trip. Three feet of the spear protruded from the wound above his eye socket, and that part had to be specially cut off so he could get a brain
CT scan. No major blood vessels were harmed and the only impairments he reported from the incident were amnesia for the period during and around the event, and some sluggishness in a hand.[14][15]
Notable patients
Deaths
December 1979:
Arthur McDuffie died at the hospital following his beating at the hands of
Dade County Public Safety Department officers following a motorcycle chase. The Dade County officers were eventually acquitted in May 1980, which sparked the
Miami race riots. The riots filled Jackson with hundreds of trauma patients.[16]
May 11, 1981:
Reggae icon
Bob Marley died at the hospital at the age of 36. He was in the process of flying home to
Jamaica from
Germany when his vital functions rapidly deteriorated due to previously diagnosed
cancer. After landing at
Miami International Airport, Marley was taken to the hospital for immediate medical attention. The spread of
melanoma to his lungs and brain was ruled the cause of death. His final words, uttered at the hospital to his son
Ziggy, were: "Money can't buy life."[17]
February 8, 1997: Professional motorcycle stunt rider
Corey Scott was pronounced dead at Jackson Memorial Hospital after his motorcycle stunt went horribly wrong at the
Miami Orange Bowl. The fatal accident was witnessed by a crowd of thousands and was captured on camera.[18]
May 29, 2011: Singer
Sean Kingston was taken to the Jackson Memorial Hospital after being involved in a Jet Ski accident with a female passenger. He was discharged on June 24.[20]