Transplant center must obtain organs from nearby

The Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute came under fire after performing a 2009 liver transplant for Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Critics complained Methodist had an unfair business advantage because it obtained organs from both Tennessee Donor Services and the Mid-South Transplant Foundation. They also complained that a significant proportion of Methodist's patients came from outside the mid-south.

The Commercial Appeal reports (http://bit.ly/W9ik4G) that earlier this month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ordered Methodist to get its organs from Mid-South Transplant, which draws from a less populous region than Tennessee Donor Services.

Methodist officials said the ruling would be devastating to the transplant center and its patients.