Memorial Hermann organ transplant department receives 'not in good standing' notice

The Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center received a major action from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network on Feb. 25. The "not in good standing" designation was issued to Memorial Hermann's organ transplant department 10 months after the hospital system voluntarily suspended its liver and kidney transplant programs.

What's happening?

The ruling was issued in a Feb. 25 news release following a peer review process which included a series of site visits and interviews with Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center transplant program directors.

"The OPTN’s peer review process involving Memorial Hermann identified a number of concerns with the liver transplant program’s adherence to OPTN requirements, and their ability to enhance practices for patient safety and corrective action management," the release stated. "Findings included altered candidates’ donor criteria to effectively inactivate candidates, lack of communication among multidisciplinary teams and with patients, as well as a culture of intimidation and retaliation for reporting potential problems."

In April, Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center voluntarily shut down its liver and kidney transplant operations after the families of three deceased patients—Richard Mostacci, Daniel Rodriquez-Alvarez and Robert Osuna—filed lawsuits May 20 against Dr. Steve Bynon, head of the liver transplant program for Memorial Hermann. The lawsuit claims lengthy wait times for liver transplants led to the deaths of several individuals, according to prior Community Impact reporting.

What it means

According to the OPTN, the designation of "not in good standing" was only issued one other time in 2006; however, it does not actually have any impact on the operations of the hospital system's program.

In a statement from Memorial Hermann, hospital officials said heart and lung transplant operations would continue, and staff are working toward getting liver and kidney transplant services operating again.

"We received official notification of decision late yesterday and are in the process of notifying each transplant patient in both our abdominal and thoracic programs about the designation, as required by OPTN, and providing updates regarding their treatment options with us," hospital officials said in a Feb. 26 statement. "Our abdominal transplant program remains voluntarily inactive as we work to reopen it. While there is no timeframe for the reopening of this program, we are hopeful we can do so very soon."