[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2019\/01\/travel-to-pittsburgh-for-care\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2019\/01\/travel-to-pittsburgh-for-care\/","headline":"Why People Travel to Pittsburgh \u2014 and UPMC \u2014 for Care They Can’t Receive Anywhere Else","name":"Why People Travel to Pittsburgh \u2014 and UPMC \u2014 for Care They Can’t Receive Anywhere Else","description":"We're offering whole new ways of delivering patient care. More than 30,000 patients travel to Pittsburgh each year for the world-class care at UPMC. ","datePublished":"2019-01-28","dateModified":"2024-05-13","author":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/","name":"UPMC","url":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/","sameAs":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/upmc\/","parentOrganization":"UPMC"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"UPMC HealthBeat","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/travel.jpg","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/travel.jpg","height":327,"width":754},"url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2019\/01\/travel-to-pittsburgh-for-care\/","about":["Health Topics A-Z","Sports Medicine","Transplant"],"wordCount":366,"articleBody":"Patients from around the world come to Pittsburgh for the expertise of UPMCRosie Vargas\u2019 parents were California born and raised\u2014and they never expected that Pittsburgh would one day be home.As a newborn, doctors diagnosed Rosie with Maple Syrup Urine Disease, a sometimes fatal metabolic disorder in which the body is unable to process certain proteins. One way to combat it? A liver transplant.When the family met with doctors in Los Angeles, they didn\u2019t get the answers they were looking for. That\u2019s when they learned about Pittsburgh\u2014and UPMC.At UPMC, the Vargases were able to secure a living donor liver transplant for Rosie. She first received part of her cousin\u2019s liver. When that organ failed, she underwent a second transplant at UPMC Children\u2019s Hospital of Pittsburgh.The family then decided to pack up and move from California to their current home in Cranberry, so they could be closer to the world-class care Rosie, who is now 5, needs.\u201cWe would not let anybody else touch Rosie,\u201d said Sarah Vargas, Rosie\u2019s mother. \u201cWe trust [the UPMC] team.\u201dLearn more about the Vargas\u2019 story and UPMC\u2019s impact from WTAE.The Vargases aren\u2019t alone. Each year, UPMC treats more than 30,000 patients who have traveled from outside the region for the services at UPMC. Famous Swedish soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimovic and racecar driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. have both made the journey to Pittsburgh to receive care at UPMC.\u201cIt\u2019s great to have it in your backyard, but it\u2019s a great source of pride,\u201d said Steven Shapiro, senior vice president and chief medical and science officer of UPMC.UPMC has announced a $2 billion investment to create three pioneering specialty hospitals. These facilities will offer next-generation treatments\u2014and whole new ways of delivering patient care.The all-new UPMC Hillman Cancer Hospital, UPMC Heart and Transplant Hospital, and UPMC Vision and Rehabilitation at UPMC Mercy will complement the already advanced specialty care at our UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, and Children\u2019s Hospital of Pittsburgh.Once complete, Pittsburgh will be the only city with six specialty hospitals, drawing patients from around the world to a new health care destination."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2019","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2019\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"01","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2019\/\/01\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Why People Travel to Pittsburgh \u2014 and UPMC \u2014 for Care They Can’t Receive Anywhere Else","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2019\/01\/travel-to-pittsburgh-for-care\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]