MIAMI — Trish Phillips knows how difficult it is to find an organ donor.
It’s why in 2016 she gifted her friend another chance at life.
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“I always say I gave her a better quality of life and she saved my life,” Phillips said.
It’s the type of life-saving care the Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency at University of Miami Health is supposed to provide.
But the federal government says the Miami agency was failing its patients.
Figures obtained by Local 10 News from the Department of Health and Human Services show LAORA was critically understaffed and had the lowest donation rate of all 55 HHS-accredited organ procurement organizations across the country.
Federal investigators say they also found repeated mistakes in organ labeling, errors in matching patients with organs and a lack of training.
HHS says the agency had also been cited several times in recent years.
On Thursday, the federal government announced it’s shutting it down.
Phillips called the news “alarming” and “very sad.”
A spokesperson for LAORA told Local 10 News in a statement that the agency’s “top priority” has “always been safe, respectful, and compliant organ donation practices.”
“We will cooperate fully with HHS to ensure a smooth transition and will not appeal,” the statement reads.
Phillips’ successful organ donation in 2016 was not through the UM agency.
Since then, she started the multicultural Miracle Donor Foundation.
It helps people in minority communities become organ donors.
“There are over 100,000 people waiting on the transplant list for a life-saving organ,” Phillips said. “Organ donation is still needed. If you’re listening to this story, don’t let it deter you.”
LAORA was serving Floridians from six counties, stretching from St. Lucie down to the Keys.
Phillips is urging people who might have been on this agency’s waiting list to find another organization and get on their list as soon as possible.
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