HHS Decertifies Organ Procurement Organization

of donors or their families.

I'm announcing that HHS has become the decertification

of Network for Hope,

the organ procurement organization serving Kentucky and parts of Indiana,

Ohio, and West Virginia.

We reached this decision after extensive reviews

by CMS and HRSA found persistent patient safety failures

despite repeated oversights, repeated warnings,

corrective action plans, and multiple opportunities to improve.

Federal reviewers found serious deficiencies

in nearly 30% of the cases that they examined.

We found patients placed on the organ donation pathway

who should have never been there.

We found cases with the donation process continued

despite signs that patients were not appropriate organ donors.

We found repeated failures in clinical judgment,

oversight, and patient safety.

And we found that these problems continued

even after the organization promised to correct them.

These failures had real consequences.

One of those cases involved TJ Hoover.

TJ showed signs of awareness while

on the operating table about to have his organs removed.

Physicians refused to proceed with the organ recovery because

they believed that he was still alive.

Because they acted,

TJ is alive and is here with us today.

TJ, we are grateful that you're here and

we're grateful to those physicians

who had the courage to do the right thing.

TJ's story is a powerful reminder that

every safeguard exists for a reason.

Most organ procurement organizations

carry out this work with professionalism,

compassion, and deep respect for both donors and recipients.

But Network for Hope repeatedly failed to meet those standards.

It was a bad apple.

When an organization entrusted with the gift of life

repeatedly puts patients at risk,

the federal government has the duty to act.