One Breath at a Time, Inc. is a Florida not-for-profit corporation formed August 17, 2004 in Tampa, Florida for facilitating the entire lung transplantation process for those people scheduling such operations at Tampa General Hospital (TGH). The hospital is located near downtown Tampa, is the primary teaching hospital for the University of South Florida Morsoni College of Medicine and serves a 12-county region of more than four million people in West Central Florida.
We currently sponsor needed support services for those contemplating lung transplant procedures as well as for patients and their families before, during and after transplant surgery. One Breath at a Time, Inc. holds group meetings at the hospital (as needed) during which all aspects of lung transplantation are discussed, including: what transplant candidates can expect in terms of temporary impact on lifestyle; impact of the recovery period on families; and how the patient’s day-to-day activities can be affected.
Our primary mission at this time is to assist lung transplant recipients and their families, to provide support systems throughout the process and to promote the importance of organ donation, according to One Breath at a Time, Inc.’s administrators. We are registered with and approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) corporation for Federal income tax purposes (contributions are tax deductible). We want to establish ongoing financial resources to ensure the achievement of this mission. Contributions can be made by Clicking Here.
The organization established the 1st Tampa Bay Lung Transplant Home, the Butterfly House with multiple small apartments to assist in providing temporary living quarters for Tampa General Hospital’s out-of-town and out-of-state patients and their families during initial evaluation, clinic visits, checkups, transplant episode and post-operative care.
A growing number of lung patients are expected to come to Tampa from all over the United States for various transplant-related procedures as more organs become available to the hospital’s surgery center from medical sources. One Breath at a Time, Inc. will accommodate those people with much-needed quarters as close to the hospital as possible.
Statistics released by Tampa General Hospital indicate the number of lung transplantations performed at its surgical facility has markedly increased in recent years. Recognizing this and the need for supplemental services for patients, One Breath at a Time, Inc. was formed.
Kapil Patel, M.D., is the Medical Director for the Center for Advanced Lung Disease & Lung Transplantation at Tampa General Hospital. He is now chief advisor to the Board regarding current and projected needs of the hospital’s lung transplant program as well as those of lung transplant recipients and their families.
