Foster child removed from transplant list

GAINESVILLE, Fla., July 10 (UPI) -- A Florida hospital took a foster child off its organ transplant waiting list, officials said, because the state can't guarantee the child will have a home.

Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Fla., removed the 15-year-old disabled child with a failing liver because administrators determined his unstable living conditions made him a poor transplant candidate, The Miami Herald reported.

The state's next move could be an appeal to Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital, which Department of Children and Families officials hope will place the teen on its waiting list.

"Jackson has given me hope," said Nick Cox, DCF regional administrator in the Tampa Bay area, where the boy lives. "We think Jackson could be the angel for this child."

Cox said the state expects to hear from the facility soon. If the hospital agrees to put him on the transplant wait list, DCF will have to fly the teen to Miami for a battery of medical tests over two or three days.

Finances shouldn't be an issue, Cox said, since the boy is insured through the state's Medicaid program because he is a foster child.