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Yomiuri Shimbun file photo Front view of the University of Tokyo Hospital
The Yomiuri Shimbun
16:02 JST, March 24, 2025
In response to the issue of medical institutions having to give up on accepting organs from braindead patients for transplants due to understaffing and lack of hospital beds, the University of Tokyo Hospital, which performs the highest number of transplant surgeries in Japan, plans to hire eight specialists in fiscal 2025, it has been learned.
The hospital hopes to train doctors to become leaders in the field of transplantation and improve the level of transplant medicine nationwide.
The hospital will employ a total of eight doctors experienced in transplant operation, including surgeons, internal medicine doctors, anesthesiologists and intensive care specialists.
They will work as a team to perform heart, lung and liver transplant operations. They will also provide guidance to other doctors from around the country who wish to gain experience in the surgeries.
The costs related to hiring the doctors will be covered by a ¥500 million donation from a 68-year-old male patient of the hospital. A course specializing in transplant operation will also be set up through the end of fiscal 2027. However, if it can secure additional funds, the hospital will consider extending the course.
In addition, the hospital plans to set up an operating room prioritizing transplants and an intensive care unit with three or so beds for patients to stay before and after transplants. The hospital also intends to hire clinical engineers and clinical laboratory technologists to assist with operations and develop a system to monitor patients’ post-op conditions.
At the hospital, transplants using organs donated by braindead patients totaled 88 for hearts, lungs and livers in 2023, and 100 in 2024. Both figures are the highest in Japan. However, as of December 2024, there were 515 patients waiting for transplants.
In the meantime, transplants are being carried out by surgeons and other staff alongside regular duties. Even with previous potential organ donations, in some cases the hospital had to pass on such offers as it was not able to supply doctors, other medical staff and hospital beds, among other issues. In 2023, there were 36 such cases for heart, lungs and liver transplants, and a similar number of such cases were seen in 2024.
In fiscal 2023, the hospital suffered a deficit of ¥1.18 billion and has said it is unable to increase staff or hospital beds, including that for transplant medicine.
“Training doctors to engage in transplantation is a major issue,” said Prof. Masaaki Sato, a specialist in respiratory surgery, in charge of setting up the course. “We want to create a ‘University of Tokyo model’ for human resource development.”
