The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has begun the process of decertifying Network for Hope, a federally designated organ procurement organization (OPO), after federal officials concluded the organization failed to correct serious patient safety deficiencies first identified during a sweeping investigation last year.
A 2025 HHS investigation found that some potential donors may still have been alive when organ procurement began.
As The Dallas Express reported at the time, HHS warned that the OPO, which serves Kentucky and parts of Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia, could lose its federal certification if it failed to implement meaningful reforms.
Now, after months of intensified federal oversight, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) have independently concluded the organization did not demonstrate sufficient improvement, prompting HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to initiate the decertification process.
“Americans who choose to become organ donors deserve a system that honors their gift and protects every patient,” Kennedy said in a statement. “Today’s action reflects the Trump Administration’s commitment to protecting the sanctity of life. Organizations that repeatedly fail to meet federal standards and put patients at risk will be held accountable.”
The action is part of the administration’s broader effort to reform the nation’s organ donation and transplant system following federal findings involving donor evaluations and patient safety practices.
Federal investigation found troubling patient safety concerns
As previously reported by DX, HHS launched a major review in 2025 after reopening a case an Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network committee had closed without action during the Biden administration.
Between 2021 and 2024, HRSA reviewed 351 Network for Hope cases involving authorized organ donations that ultimately did not occur.
Federal investigators found:
- A total of 103 cases, or 29.3%, showed concerning features, including 73 patients with neurological signs incompatible with organ donation.
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Investigators found that organ procurement may have begun before some potential donors had died, raising significant ethical and legal concerns.
- Evidence pointed to poor neurological assessments, poor coordination with treating medical teams, questionable consent practices and misclassification of causes of death, particularly in overdose cases.
Last year’s investigation found that at least 28 patients may not have been deceased when organ procurement began.
At the time, HHS ordered Network for Hope to perform a root cause analysis, strengthen donor eligibility criteria and establish safeguards allowing staff to halt organ recovery procedures when patient safety concerns arose.
Reviews found little improvement
According to HHS, Network for Hope remained under intensive federal monitoring throughout the past year.
In 2025, HRSA directed the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) to implement a comprehensive corrective action plan while CMS launched an independent review to determine whether the organization continued meeting Medicare certification requirements.
CMS conducted another comprehensive review in May 2026 and concluded many of the original quality concerns persisted, including deficiencies involving donor evaluations, adverse event reviews and organizational administration.
HRSA Administrator Tom Engels said federal officials worked closely with the organization but found the corrective measures insufficient.
“HRSA, through its oversight of the OPTN, worked closely with Network [for] Hope over the past year through intensive monitoring and corrective action to address serious patient safety concerns,” Engels said. “Despite those efforts, the organization did not demonstrate the improvements necessary to meet federal standards. When organizations entrusted with the care of potential organ donors fail to meet those standards, we have a responsibility to act.”
CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said the action to begin the decertification process sends a broader message to healthcare providers participating in federal programs.
“If you can’t be trusted to safeguard patients and be responsible stewards of American taxpayer dollars, we’ll find organizations that can,” Oz said.
Organ procurement reforms continue nationwide
HHS said the decertification process is part of a larger effort to restore confidence in the nation’s organ procurement system.
Since announcing its reform initiative in July 2025, the department says it has added safeguards to prevent organ-allocation “line-skipping,” installed an independent OPTN governing board, expanded misconduct reporting procedures and launched transparency tools that flag departures from the standard match list.
Secretary Kennedy has also directed every federally designated organ procurement organization to appoint a dedicated Patient Safety Officer responsible for monitoring patient safety events, conducting investigations, reporting adverse incidents and overseeing corrective actions.
Federal officials say the reforms will strengthen oversight, improve accountability and ensure organ procurement teams recover donated organs only after satisfying all required medical and legal standards.
More than 100,000 Americans remain on the national organ transplant waiting list.
Provided by Dallas Express
