A hospital in southwest Florida has suspended its kidney transplant center as it overhauls the surgical program.
The decision announced Friday by Lee Memorial Health System in Fort Myers affects 259 patients on the waiting list to receive kidneys. Transplants involving live kidney donors have been on hold for nearly a year.
Dr. Lynsey Biondi tells the (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press that the Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers should resume kidney transplants in the next few months, though transplants involving live donors may not resume before autumn.
Biondi says all patients on the transplant list have been contacted and hospital officials are working to transfer some to other transplant programs.
U.S. transplant regulators put the hospital's program on probation in December and required its control to be the responsibility of the health system instead of private practice doctors.