Letter: Changes restrict access to organs

The Commercial Appeal
Gary S. Shorb, President and CEO, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare
Steve Schwab, Chancellor, University of Tennessee Health Science Center

We would like to set the record straight related to inaccuracies made by Mid-South Transplant Foundation in your May 11 article "Disputes erupt over transplant changes." Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center have always had the best interest of all community members in mind.

Mid-South Transplant Foundation asserts that Memphis transplant patients will not be disadvantaged by the loss of organ access in late 2012 when the Methodist/UT Transplant Institute loses access to organs provided by Tennessee Donor Services. The reality is that there will be many fewer organs available for transplant in West Tennessee; hence, fewer West Tennessee residents will get a transplant. We performed 260 transplants last year and only 46 of our organs came from Mid-South Transplant Foundation. The difference is the number of patients who will die.

The foundation also claims there will be enough livers available to support people in our community. We are on track to perform 150 liver transplants this year. Because of their limited service area, Mid-South Transplant Foundation is simply not able to meet the needs of our community's patients.

Another assertion is that the current system somehow provides an unfair advantage to UT-Methodist. They should be ashamed of that statement. Nothing is fairer than equal access to transplant organs for all Tennesseans. That is what we stand to lose at the end of this year. Residents of West Tennessee will have less access to organs than citizens in the rest of the state.

Read more: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/jun/02/letter-changes-restrict-access-organs/

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