Daniel Jacobs, MD

A mutilating finger or hand injury typically occurs in the blink of an eye. But what happens in the hours that follow can mean the difference between being able to use a finger again—and losing it altogether.

“Replant surgery involves getting blood flowing through the finger, and getting nerves, tendons, and bones working together again,” says Daniel Jacobs, MD. “How successful we are sets the tone for the rest of that patient’s life.”

It’s this passion for setting the right tone and providing outstanding patient care that inspired Dr. Jacobs to found the KP Northern California Microvascular Hand and Finger Replantation Center in 2013.

“Replant surgery is not a one-time intervention. It’s a long pathway, and you have to be there at the beginning to really have an impact at the end,” he says.

Dr. Jacobs realized that leveraging TPMG physician expertise and KP’s unique integration provided an opportunity to achieve higher-quality, more consistent outcomes for patients across the entire continuum of care—from the first call from the emergency physician to the very last hand-therapy appointment.

Dr. Jacobs enlisted the support of Raj Bhandari, MD, Physician-in-Chief at KP San Jose, and recruited Darrell Brooks, MD, a plastic surgeon with worldclass experience in reconstructive microsurgery and replantation. Together they built a state-of-the-art specialty center at KP San Jose. Keith Follmar, MD, joined the effort, and the team was in place.

Today, the Microvascular Hand and Finger Replantation Center offers around-the-clock treatment to any KP member who suffers finger or hand amputations, vascular problems of the upper extremities, or other mutilating hand injuries. It’s so well-coordinated that by the time a patient arrives at the KP San Jose Emergency Department, the microsurgeon and anesthesiologist are ready and waiting, even in the middle of the night.