Transplant Funding

I am writing in response to the editorial (Nov. 19) titled “Tragedies Cry Out for Medical Care Remedy,” in which you comment on the plight of health care for the poor. To clarify your point, you referred to two heart-transplant cases we were not able to perform at UCI Medical Center.

I would like to commend The Times for its sensitivity to the difficult questions raised by our present system of medical care in America and for your courage in bringing these issues squarely to the attention of the public.

However, I would also like to correct some inaccuracies contained in your article.

First, UCI Medical Center’s fund-raising arm, the Auxiliary, was not engaged in the fund-raising activities instituted on behalf of the patients seeking heart transplants. The fund raising was done by individual citizens who, incidentally, also happened to be part of the Auxiliary.

Second, UCI Medical Center’s OB Diversion policy is and always has been based on lack of capacity, not reimbursement issues.

MARY A. PICCIONE

Executive Director

UCI Medical Center