University of California-Davis Medical Center to close liver transplant program

Sacramento Bee, December 15, 2008

University of California-Davis Medical Center has begun shutting down its liver transplant program and will help patients get on waiting lists elsewhere. The number of transplants performed by the relatively small program has dropped by more than half in the past year, and is hovering just above the minimum level that federal authorities set for Medicare reimbursement. The decision was not driven by any medical problems, or by the federal reimbursement rules for transplants that were established in spring 2007, said the medical center's chief medical officer.