South Jersey hospital gives wrong kidney to wrong person

CAMDEN — A city hospital is facing questions after mixing up organ transplants.

CBS Philly reported that Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital last week accidentally implanted a kidney that was meant for another patient on the waiting list.

Nobody died as a result. The other patient eventually got a kidney and both patients were doing well, hospital officials said Tuesday.

Virtua Health Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer Reginald Blaber said the hospital reported the error to the state Department of Health and said that the company is taking measures to review what happened and prevent it from happening again.

The independent Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade has given the hospital four As and four Bs in the last eight semiannual ratings since spring of 2016. In the most recent rating, the A-rated hospital registered low marks in communication by doctors and nurses. The Leapfrog Group explained that hospitals “that score well on this measure encourage their doctors [and nurses] to take time with every patient to communicate effectively by listening well, answering questions, treating patients with courtesy and respect, and explaining diagnoses and treatment plans in ways that patients understand.”

The hospital had above-average marks in a majority of other measures but also had below-average scores in preventing blood and urinary tract infections, preventing death from serious preventable complications, preventing dangerous blood clots, and effectively communicating to patients about medicines and discharge from the hospital.