Hermann Memorial Hospital said “not good member” by Optn due to transplant policies violations

Optn perceived criticism against a major Houston hospital.

During a meeting on February 20, the Board of Directors of the Purchase and Transport Network (Optn) said Memorial Hermann Hospital, the University of Texas in Houston, A member is not in good condition.

Memorial Hermann, a Houston -based transplant hospital, faced this designation due to serious violations of Optn policies and statues, as well as the patient’s safety and the quality of care.

This designation is the most severe action that Optn can take independently, according to his status. It serves as a public notification of significant problems within a member organization. However, the status also outlines the standards for members to have a reconsidered and potentially eliminated name if they demonstrate a substantial improvement.

Last year, the hospital suspended and kidney transfer programs on April 10, ceases to add patients to the waiting list or accept organ offers.

A few days after this movement, a report from New York Times Accused a surgeon, Dr. J. Steve Bynon Jr., has changed “secret” transplant databases, with the intention of making some of his patients not eligible for liver transplants.

A few weeks after the initial report, the hospital confirmed that there were “inappropriate changes” at the criteria for accepting donors within the United Network for the Database of Organ Database (UNOS), performed by a single doctor for some patients waiting for a liver transplant. The hospital did not mention Dr. Bynon by name.

The optn review process has identified several concerns with the Hermann Memorial Liver Transplant program. These included the modified donor criteria for inactivation of the candidates, a weak communication between the multidisciplinary teams and with the patients and a culture of intimidation and reprisals against those who report potential problems.

The Optn investigation also included an equal visit to the hospital on May 21 and May 22, 2024 and an interview with the program officials on September 11.

OPTN management and member policies also require that long -term inactivation transplant programs organize the continuous care of the candidates listed with them.

In response to the announcement, Memorial Hermann shared the following statement with KPR 2:

“Memorial Hermann is aware of the decision of organ and transplants (optn) and is focused on safe and properly resuming our abdominal transplant program to continue to serve the hundreds of patients who are based on our high quality care team. We received an official notification of the decision yesterday late and I was in the process of notifying each patient with transplant, both in our abdominal and thoracic programs, about the designation, as Request, and to provide relevant updates on their treatment options with us. We remain employees with our patients, their families and the communities we serve.

Memorial Hermann was aware of a member, not in good condition, was a potential action presented in Optn status. Memorial Hermann became aware of the improper changes made by Dr. Steve Bynon, an employee of UT Health Houston and took corrective measures to prevent this situation – or something similar – to happen again in the future.

Our kidney, pancreas and liver transplant programs voluntarily as we work to reopen. Although there is no time interval for reopening these programs, we hope that we can reopen the abdominal program very soon.

Although, unfortunately, this designation applies to all the hospital transplant programs, it does not affect our ability to continue to provide services to patients. Given that these previous problems have been specific to the liver program, our intention is to continue to operate the thoracic transplant programs.

Important, this designation has no impact on any of our other departments from Memorial Hermann – Texas Medical Center or any other Hermann Memorial Campus.

We cooperate fully with all regulatory agencies, including Optn, UNOS, Texas Health and Human Services and Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). “