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STATE UNIVERSITY — Penn State Medical Center has suspended liver transplant surgeries at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center while a national regulator conducts a performance review. This was a major setback for the hospital as it seeks to rebuild its accredited program in 2022.
The liver transplant program could remain dormant for up to a year, according to internal documents obtained by Spotlight PA. The suspension does not affect the hospital's other transplant programs.
Pennsylvania Department of Health spokeswoman Barbara Shindo told Pennsylvania Spotlight PA in an email that Pennsylvania voluntarily discontinued its liver transplant program to address concerns about documentation and clinical processes. . She said the health system has not received any notice of violation, Shinde said.
The health system did not say who reported the problem.
Shinde said the Penn State Department of Health has notified the 63 patients affected by the closure and is working to transfer their care to other liver transplant centers.
Shinde said the program will be reviewed by representatives of the Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), a private nonprofit organization that operates the U.S. transplant system as a federal contractor.
Anne Paschke, a spokeswoman for the organ procurement and transplant network (OPTN), a transplant system, said that under the organization's bylaws, she cannot comment on potential or ongoing reviews of its affiliates. Ta.
Paschke said 17 of the nation's 798 transplant programs, including Hershey Medical Center, are currently on “extended hiatus,” meaning the program has been closed for more than 15 consecutive days.
This is the second time in more than two years that Hershey Medical Center has agreed to cancel a liver transplant. The move comes just months after regulator OPTN. restored Lead the program to good results.
In April 2022, the hospital agreed to suspend its liver and kidney transplant program while a “third party” conducted an “extensive review,” Shinde told PennLive. In May 2022, an inspection by the state health department found various problems, PennLive said. report In August 2022.
Found by inspector Failure of staff to analyze trends in post-transplant problems; failure to notify Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of changes in key staff, including surgeons; and failure to notify some patients of potential surgery These included failing to properly inform patients of complications and the fact that some organs were considered to be at high risk. -danger.
Later that year, OPTN declared the hospital in “poor member status.” Quote Among other issues, it cited concerns about reporting surgical complications, compliance with national requirements for kidney and liver transplant programs, and a “culture of retaliation for reporting potential problems.” The designation is intended to provide “public notice” that a hospital has committed a “serious violation” of the organization's policies or bylaws, or has had “serious deficiencies in patient safety or quality of care.” The organization's board of directors said.
This is the first time since 2006 that OPTN has declared the hospital in “poor condition.”
In response to the inactivation, the Pennsylvania State Department of Health has committed to rebuilding.
Last March, the health system announced it had overhauled its administrative procedures, updated its surgical equipment and hired three top surgeons to participate in its kidney and liver transplant programs.
“We voluntarily suspended our program in April 2022 to improve our program, and since then we have been building the abdominal transplant program that the people of central Pennsylvania deserve,” said the health system’s chief executive. Director Deborah Addo said in a statement. news release at that time.
opt-in restored The hospital granted hospital membership privileges in December 2023 and said the program addressed previous concerns.
Since resuming kidney and liver transplants, the health system has been regularly submitting data and other information to UNOS, Shinde said. Penn State's heart, bone marrow and kidney transplant programs are operating as usual, Shinde told Spotlight Penn State.
“Our health system will continue to work with UNOS to ensure our liver transplant program meets the needs of our patients as effectively and safely as possible,” Shinde said.
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