A Camden County hospital is apologizing for performing a kidney transplant on the wrong patient.

Officials with Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Camden say that a kidney meant for one patient was mistakenly transplanted into another patient with the same name who was farther down the priority list.

Virtua Health says the Nov. 18 operation on a 51-year-old patient was successful, but officials then discovered that the patient was transplanted out of priority order because “unusually, the individual who should have received the organ has the same name and is of similar age.”

Virtua Health says the error was reported to state health officials and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, and the patient who should have received the kidney also underwent a successful transplant on Nov. 24.

"Mistakes of this magnitude are rare, and despite the unusual circumstances of similar patient identities, additional verification would have prevented this error,” Virtua Health executive vice president Reginald Blaber said in a statement.

Officials say steps have been taken to prevent a recurrence.