Home News Penn State Health halts kidney transplants • Spotlight PA

Penn State Health halts kidney transplants • Spotlight PA

by Wyatt Massey
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Penn State Department Of Health Suspends Liver Transplants · Focus

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STATE COLLEGE — Penn State University Medical Center has agreed to halt kidney transplant procedures for two weeks following an investigation by federal regulators, a decision that deals another blow to attempts to rebuild the health system's abdominal transplant program after it halted procedures in 2022 and faced a severe reprimand from a state regulator.

The health system agreed in late April to stop performing liver transplants while the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network, which oversees transplants in the United States, reviews the program.

“We are working to inform patients currently on the kidney transplant list of this decision and will assist patients who wish to transition to or co-list with other programs in doing so promptly,” a Penn State Health spokesperson said in an email to Spotlight PA.

The spokesperson did not provide information on how many patients would be affected by the decision or the reasons for the deactivation, but said the health system was working with regulators to “review the current organizational structure of the Liver and Kidney Program.”

The suspension of both programs has called into question the success of efforts to rebuild the health care system and comes less than two years after OPTN was suspended. Declared The organization designated Milton S. Hershey Medical Center as an “inadequate member,” the most severe disciplinary action the organization has taken against a hospital in more than 15 years.

OPTN rehabilitated the hospital in December for addressing the issues.

When Penn State Health suspended its liver transplant program last month, staff were instructed to tell patients that inactivation was “not uncommon,” according to internal documents obtained by Spotlight PA.

A spokesman for Penn State's Department of Health was not able to respond to questions about the document by phone or email before publication.

Jason Smith, a cardiac surgeon at the University of California, San Francisco, who previously served on OPTN's transplant program oversight committee, told Spotlight PA that while transplant programs around the country are occasionally shut down, the repeated closure of individual programs is “a big red flag.”

“It is my opinion that repeated interruptions in transplant activity suggest serious issues with the organization’s commitment to transplantation or leadership issues that are preventing the transplant program from remaining smooth,” Smith said in an email to Spotlight PA.

Per OPTN's bylaws, the organization cannot comment on potential or ongoing reviews of its member organizations, a spokesperson previously told Spotlight PA.

This isn't the first time Penn State Health has halted liver and kidney transplants: In April 2022, the health department agreed to halt transplant procedures while a “third party” conducted a “thorough investigation,” a spokesperson said. He told PennLive at that time.

According to national data, the number of kidney transplants performed at Hershey Medical Center dropped significantly after the facility resumed transplant procedures in 2023. That year, the hospital rebuilt its transplant waiting list but performed only one kidney transplant. So far in 2024, five patients have received kidney transplants. Before the 2022 suspension, the hospital typically performed at least 24 transplant procedures each year.

In May 2022, an inspection by the state health department found a variety of issues with the medical center's transplant program, PennLive reported. report That summer, inspectors found that staff had not analyzed trends in post-transplant problems, had not notified the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that key staff, including surgeons, had been replaced and that some patients had not been properly informed of potential complications from surgery or that some organs were considered high-risk.

Later that year, the OPTN declared the hospital a “discredited member” due to concerns about reported surgical complications, compliance with state requirements for kidney and liver transplant programs, and a “culture of retaliation for reporting potential problems.”

This is the first time since 2006 that the OPTN has deemed a hospital “not in good standing.”

The designation is intended to “serve as public notice” that a hospital has committed “serious violations” of the organization's policies or rules or has experienced “significant deficiencies in patient safety or the quality of care,” the organization's board of directors said.

Penn State Health officials have pledged to overhaul kidney and liver transplants, hiring three new surgeons in March 2023 who they have described as “world class.” news release.

“We voluntarily opted out of the program in April 2022 to improve our program, and since then have been building an abdominal transplant program that is accessible to the people of central Pennsylvania,” Deborah Addo, the health system's chief operating officer, said at the time.

The health system's heart, stem cell and bone marrow transplant programs are not affected by the recent changes.

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About Us

Welcome to Daily Transplant News, your trusted source for the latest updates, stories, and information on transplantation and organ donations. We are passionate about sharing the inspiring journeys, groundbreaking research, and invaluable resources surrounding the world of transplantation.

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