Methodist Healthcare System | Keeping Well | Winter 2017

5 / 8

LEAVE A
LEGACY
Solving the great need
for minority bone
marrow donors
ADOLFO CUELLAR, a retired Texas
Ranger, hopes to save the lives of thou-
sands of minority patients by work-
ing with Methodist Hospital to raise
awareness of the need for minority bone
marrow donors and by working to make
blood/bone marrow donation an option
on Texas driver’s licenses.
Cuellar, 72, was diagnosed with acute
myelodysplastic syndrome in 2011, and it
has evolved into acute myeloid leuke-
mia, a very serious and life-threatening
disease. A match has not been identified
for him. “I am of Indian background
through my Spanish heritage,” he said. “I
probably won’t find a match.”
The Be the Match® Registry is the
world’s largest listing of potential bone
marrow donors. The markers required
for matches for bone marrow transplants
are inherited, so patients are more likely
to find a match among their own race or
ethnicity. Unfortunately, ethnic minori-
ties are heavily under-represented in
the registry. Also, the Hispanic popula-
tion is the most difficult to match with
the greatest need, according to Be the
Match®.
“Procedures for testing for a match
have become much less invasive,” said
Paul Shaughnessy, M.D., medical di-
rector of the Adult and Pediatric Bone
Marrow Transplant Program at the Texas
Transplant Institute (TTI), a department
of Methodist Hospital. “Only a cheek
swab is needed.”
Cuellar is now receiving an investi-
gational drug that is slowing down the
progression of the disease, but a bone
marrow transplant is the only cure. In
the meantime, he is working with his
contacts to start the legislation that will
be needed to get the donation option
SAFER HOSPITALS MAKE SMARTER GRADES.
AND METHODIST MAKES SAFER HOSPITALS.
SAFE = SMART
SAFETY GRADES
Metropolitan
Methodist Hospital
Methodist
Texsan Hospital
Methodist Specialty
and Transplant Hospital
What does it mean for you?
You’ve got one more reason to trust
Methodist Healthcare with
your family’s health.
Metropolitan Methodist Hospital, Methodist Texsan Hospital, Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital,
Methodist Children’s Hospital, and Northeast Methodist Hospital are campuses of Methodist Hospital.
*To view all of Methodist Healthcare Hospitals’ Leapfrog grades, and to access tips for staying safe in any hospital, visit .
The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit patient safety watchdog organization, has been driving the quality and safety
of American health care since 2000. Its Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade assesses 30 different measurements of
public safety data for more than 2,600 hospitals across the United States, then assigns A, B, C, D, and F grades.*
Metropolitan Methodist Hospital, Methodist Texsan Hospital, and Methodist Specialty and
Transplant Hospital each earned one of only 844 “A” grades awarded nationally. These are the
only hospitals in San Antonio to earn this top grade for patient safety.
Methodist Hospital, Methodist Children’s Hospital, Northeast Methodist Hospital and
Methodist Stone Oak Hospital also made the Leapfrog honor roll with Bs.
on Texas driver’s licenses. He sees this
as his legacy. “With donor information
on our driver’s licenses, we could attract
millions of bone marrow donors and
save thousands of lives,” he said.
The Adult Blood Cancer and Stem
Cell Transplant program at TTI is one
of the most preferred programs in the
United States. Our program completes
over 200 blood or marrow stem cell trans-
plants each year. Certified by the national
marrow donor program, the Methodist
program ranks in the top 20% in the
nation in volumes from allogeneic
transplants.
Visit for more
information about becoming a bone
marrow donor.
Adolfo Cuellar; KABB-TV host Kimberly
Crawford; and Paul Shaughnessy, M.D.
M e t h o d i s t H e a l t h c a r e
K E E P I N G
W E L L W I N T E R 2 0 1 7 5