The guidelines also set strict staffing levels for transplant programs.

For medical centers, a successful transplant program is a mark of prestige and often an economic lifeline.

The hospital has a year to review the two transplant programs and to make a final decision on their status, the statement said.

Some medical experts have argued that the last thing the state needs is more transplant programs, given the current level of use.

New Jersey's 8 million residents are served by eight transplant programs in four hospitals.

The group has had 77 cases since the transplant program began three years ago.

Only 10 or 15 transplant programs in the United States would meet the criteria, he said.

Several others came from donors older than 60, the limit for many transplant programs.

Medical centers with transplant programs will often perform that service, he said.

"So you become the first beneficiary of the Isolationist transplant program."