Philadelphia transplant programs risk losing U.S. funds

The failure to attract enough patients amid heavy competition among Philadelphia-area organ-transplant programs has closed one and put two others at risk. The liver program at Hahnemann University Hospital and the heart-transplant program at Temple University Hospital are in jeopardy of losing Medicare certification and government payments for the operations. Hahnemann and Temple were among a first wave of transplant hospitals nationwide to face intensified scrutiny of surgical volumes and outcomes from federal regulators. Both have until early May to get their numbers back up.