One Breath at a Time, Inc.

One Breath at a Time, Inc. is a Florida not-for-profit corporation formed August 17, 2004 in Tampa, Florida for the purpose of facilitating the entire lung transplantation process for those scheduling such operations at Tampa General Hospital. The hospital has a teaching affiliation with the University of South Florida College of Medicine and serves a 12-county region of more than 4 million people in West Central Florida.

The organization holds group meetings at the hospital during which all aspects of lung transplantation are discussed, including: what transplant candidates can expect in terms of temporary impact on lifestyle; skills for diminishing anxiety throughout the process; protocol of adapting to anti-rejection medications; impact of the recovery period on families; and how the patient's day-to-day activities may be affected.

Its primary mission
One Breath at a Time, Inc. time assists lung transplant recipients, their families and support systems throughout the transplantation process and promotes organ donation, according to Angel Oliva, its president. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has designated the charity a 501(c)(3) corporation for tax purposes.

Its mission statement indicates its immediate goal is to establish a Tampa Bay Lung Transplant Home with multiple small apartments and single-family residences 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, check ups, transplant episode and post operative care. This goal is explained in literature furnished to the public and media through its directors.

The organization's ultimate goal
The group is posturing to establish a Tampa Bay Lung Transplant Clinic and Research Institute that will provide patient care, participate in clinical research and facilitate basic science for the advancement of successful lung transplants, according to its statement. Cooperating medical institutions will assist One Breath at a Time, Inc. in staffing the facility and in providing financially for its day-to-day operation. A spokesman for the organization said there are a number of on-going fund raising efforts planned to augment financing of this project.

Statistics released by Tampa General Hospital indicate the number of lung transplantations performed at its surgical facility has markedly increased in recent years. The hospital performed its 100th lung transplant of 2007 in June, surpassing all previous records for the same time period.

Current organization directors are: Deborah Mylet, R.N., of Tampa, Florida; Ruth Brakora, of Winter Haven, Florida; Gerald Greenier of Tarpon Springs, Florida; and Angel Oliva, president and a lung transplant recipient himself, of Madeira Beach, Florida.

Dr. Mark W. Rolfe, M.D., FCCP, is head of the lung transplant program at Tampa General Hospital and 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.

'''Copyright Clearance: The above information was first published here in February, 2007, prior to being reprinted in various forms on the organization's web site, which was created in May, 2007 and which was still under construction as of July, 2007. Permission has been granted, however, for the above information to be published as above without conditions of any kind on wikipedia.org by One Breath at a Time, Inc. president Angel Oliva, 1271 Berkshire Lane, Tarpon Springs, Florida 34688, Phone: (727)430-4969.