The OPTN has levied criticisms against a major Houston hospital.
At a meeting on Feb. 20, the board of directors at the Organ Procurement and Transportation Network (OPTN) declared Memorial Hermann Hospital, University of Texas at Houston, a member not in good standing.
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Memorial Hermann, a transplant hospital based in Houston, faced this designation due to serious violations of OPTN policies and bylaws, as well as lapses in patient safety and quality of care.
This designation is the most severe action the OPTN can take independently, according to its bylaws. It serves as a public notice of significant issues within a member organization. However, the bylaws also outline standards for members to have the designation reconsidered and potentially removed if they demonstrate substantive improvement.
The designation only applies to the hospital’s transplant programs. Even with the “member not in good standing” status, Memorial Hermann’s heart and lung transplant programs will continue to operate normally. In a statement shared with KPRC 2, Memorial Hermann said it intends to restart its abdominal transplant programs soon.
Last year, the hospital suspended its liver and kidney transfer programs on April 10, ceasing to add patients to its waitlist or accept organ offers.
Several days after this move, a report from The New York Times accused a surgeon, Dr. J. Steve Bynon Jr., of “secretly” altering transplant databases, with the intention of making some of his patients ineligible for liver transplants.
Several weeks after the initial report, the hospital confirmed that there were “inappropriate changes” to the donor acceptance criteria within the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) transplant information database made by a single physician for some patients awaiting a liver transplant. The hospital did not mention Dr. Bynon by name.
The OPTN’s peer review process identified several concerns with Memorial Hermann’s liver transplant program. These included altered donor criteria to inactivate candidates, poor communication among multidisciplinary teams and with patients, and a culture of intimidation and retaliation against those reporting potential problems.
The OPTN’s investigation also included a peer visit to the hospital on May 21 and May 22, 2024, and an interview with program officials on Sept. 11.
The OPTN Management and Membership Policies also require that transplant programs under long-term inactivation arrange for ongoing care of candidates listed with them.
In response to the announcement, Memorial Hermann shared the following statement with KPRC 2:
“Memorial Hermann is aware of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network’s (OPTN) decision and is focused on safely and appropriately resuming our abdominal transplant program in a timely manner in order to continue serving the hundreds of patients who rely on our team for high quality care. We received official notification of the 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 to provide any relevant updates regarding their treatment options with us. We remain committed to our patients, their families and the communities we serve.
Memorial Hermann was aware Member Not in Good Standing was a potential action outlined in the OPTN bylaws. Memorial Hermann became aware of the inappropriate changes made by Dr. Steve Bynon, a UT Health Houston employee, and immediately took corrective action to prevent this situation – or anything like it – from being able to happen again in the future.
Our kidney, pancreas and liver transplant programs remain voluntarily inactive as we work to reopen them. While there is no timeframe for the reopening of these programs, we are hopeful we can reopen the abdominal program very soon.
While this designation unfortunately applies to all of the hospital’s transplant programs, it does not affect our ability to continue providing services to patients. Given these past issues were specific to the liver program alone, our intention is to continue operating the thoracic transplant programs as normal.
Importantly, this designation does not impact any of our other departments at Memorial Hermann – Texas Medical Center or any other Memorial Hermann campus.
We are fully cooperating with all regulatory agencies, including the OPTN, UNOS, Texas Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on this situation.”
In a follow-up statement, Memorial Hermann wanted to clarify operations would remain as normal nonetheless:
“The Member Not in Good Standing designation applies only to Memorial Hermann–Texas Medical Center’s transplant programs – there is no impact to any other departments at Memorial Hermann-TMC. Thoracic transplant programs (heart and lung) will continue to operate as normal, even with the MNGS designation. It remains our intention to restart the abdominal transplant programs soon.”
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