OPTN Board Declares Memorial Hermann Hospital, University of Texas at Houston a Member Not in Good Standing

Published on: Tuesday, February 25, 2025

At a meeting held February 20, 2025, the OPTN Board of Directors declared Memorial Hermann Hospital, University of Texas at Houston (“Memorial Hermann”) to be a Member Not in Good Standing. Memorial Hermann is a transplant hospital based in Houston, TX.

As established in the OPTN Bylaws and Management and Membership Policies, the Member Not in Good Standing designation is the most severe member action that the OPTN can take independently and is intended to provide public notice of an OPTN member that has committed a serious violation of OPTN policies or bylaws or has demonstrated a serious lapse in patient safety or quality of care. The bylaws also provide standards for members to eventually have the designation reconsidered and potentially removed if they demonstrate substantive improvement.

The OPTN’s peer review process involving Memorial Hermann identified a number of concerns with the liver transplant program’s adherence to OPTN requirements, and their ability to enhance practices for patient safety and corrective action management. Findings included altered candidates’ donor criteria to effectively inactivate candidates, lack of communication among multidisciplinary teams and with patients, as well as a culture of intimidation and retaliation for reporting potential problems.

Memorial Hermann voluntarily inactivated its liver and kidney transplant programs on 4/10/2024 at which point they were no longer adding patients to the waitlist or accepting organ offers. The OPTN Management and Membership Policies obligate transplant programs under long-term inactivation to arrange for ongoing care of candidates listed with them.

Summary of Events

The Membership and Professional Standards Committee (MPSC) conducted a detailed, confidential, due process review of information regarding the transplant programs, following the measures outlined in Appendix L of the OPTN Management and Membership Policies. The review process included a peer visit to the hospital on May 21-22, 2024, and an interview with program officials on September 11, 2024.

The MPSC, following its review, recommended Memorial Hermann to be designated Member Not in Good Standing. The OPTN Board of Directors approved the MPSC’s recommendation on February 20, 2025.