REUTERS/Howard Schneider
- Two employees at University Hospitals in Cleveland have been placed on leave after the wrong patient received a kidney transplant.
- It's unclear exactly how the mix-up happened, but the hospital is investigating.
- The hospital said the patient who received the kidney is recovering and that the kidney was compatible.
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Two employees at an Ohio hospital have been placed on leave after the wrong patient received a kidney transplant earlier this month.
It's unclear exactly how the patients at University Hospitals in Cleveland got mixed up.
A spokesperson for University Hospitals told WKYC that the patient who received the kidney is recovering and that the kidney was compatible.
"We are dismayed that an error recently occurred resulting in one patient receiving a kidney intended for another," spokesperson George Stamatis told WKYC. "Another patient's transplant surgery has been delayed."
The hospital is working with the United Network for Organ Sharing, the organization that manages transplants, to investigate what happened.
"We have offered our sincerest apologies to these patients and their families. We recognize they entrusted us with their care. The situation is entirely inconsistent with our commitment to helping patients return to health and live life to the fullest," Stamatis told WKYC.
There are more than 100,000 patients across the United States waiting for kidneys, and patients normally wait five to 10 years to find a match, according to UCLA Health.