by Steven Musil
June 23, 2009 7:05 PM PDT

A Memphis, Tenn., hospital confirmed Tuesday that Apple CEO Steve Jobs received a liver transplant there two months ago and said he is "recovering well and has an excellent prognosis."

Jobs, who returned to work at Apple's campus on Monday after a six-month medical leave, "received a liver transplant because he was the patient with the highest MELD score (model for end-stage liver disease) of his blood type and, therefore, the sickest patient on the waiting list at the time a donor organ became available," according to a statement by Dr. James D. Eason, the program director of the Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute in Memphis.

"The waiting list for liver transplants was smaller than in other states, such as California," Eason said. While Eason said the confirmation was being provided with Jobs' approval, he cited patient confidentiality in saying that he could not reveal any further information on the specifics of Jobs' surgery. Apple representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

News of the transplant broke Friday night when The Wall Street Journal reported, in a story that cited no sources, that Jobs had received a transplant in Tennessee about two months ago. Earlier this year, Apple's CEO was reported to be relocating from California to Tennessee. In January, after Jobs announced that he would step aside from his day-to-day duties for a six-month medical leave of absence, Bloomberg reported that Apple's CEO was considering a liver transplant.