Ohio Hospital That Threw Kidney In The Trash Is Restarting Its Transplant Program

The University of Toledo Medical Center made national headlines when an operating room nurse accidentally threw away the wrong kidney during a transplant surgery. The Ohio hospital will resume kidney transplant in just a few weeks.

The kidney transplant mishap happened on August 10. The hospital has reportedly undergone “numerous reviews” and several policy changes, according to Fox News. The United Network of Organ Sharing affirmed the University of Toledo Medical Center’s (UTMC) decision to restart the transplant program last week.

University of Toledo Medical Center Chancellor and Executive Vice President for Health Affairs Dr. Jeffrey Gold had this to say about the transplant program:

“Today we complete the next step in a difficult journey, but one I think unquestionably made us a stronger, safer hospital.”

Dr. Gold also noted that the Ohio hospital has remained in close communication with the individuals affected by the “error” and is committed to their medical care. According to the doctor’s statements to the media, the reviews after the nurse threw away the wrong kidney resulted in procedural changes that hospital official’s feel will keep the mistake from ever happening again.

After the botched kidney transplant at UTMC in August, the hospital put an administrator of surgical services and two nurses on paid leave. The following week the University of Toledo Medical Center once again began deceased donor transplants. Such procedures involve harvesting an organ from a dead person to be given to a live person. The suspension of the live donor transplant program was voluntary.

Officials from the Ohio hospital would not release the name of the man who was attempting to donate a kidney to his sister. It is also unknown if the sister was able to receive a different kidney, the Toledo Blade reports.