UCI Medical Center placed on probation

Published on: Thursday, March 23, 2006

Long Beach, Calif., March 23, 2006 -- At its meeting today, the OPTN/UNOS Board of Directors placed the University of California Irvine Medical Center (UCI) on probation pending completion of a corrective action plan. This adverse action was based upon findings of serious deficiencies in patient care involving onsite medical/surgical coverage at UCI's liver transplant program; UCI's waitlist, graft and patient survival for its liver transplant program; and UCI's submission of documentation that contained potentially false representations about the on-site coverage of certain key personnel. UCI voluntarily withdrew its liver transplant program from OPTN membership in November 2005.

UCI will be able to continue listing kidney and pancreas patients for transplantation, receive organs for transplantation, perform transplants and provide ongoing care for transplant recipients. However, the entire institution will remain on probation until UCI has demonstrated conclusively to the satisfaction of the OPTN/UNOS Membership and Professional Standards Committee (MPSC) and Board of Directors that it has accomplished a plan of corrective action. This plan includes demonstrating that onsite transplant surgical and medical coverage meets patients' needs and that additional quality improvements have been implemented to ensure patient safety and welfare. While OPTN By-Laws allow surgeons and physicians to staff more than one transplant center, the center is responsible for ensuring adequate onsite coverage to meet patient needs. During the ongoing review UCI is subject to heightened onsite and offsite review of organ offer refusals, transplant candidate urgency status and transplant recipient outcomes data.

"The executive leadership of UCI has cooperated in good faith with the corrective action plan under review," said Francis L. Delmonico, M.D., president of UNOS and the OPTN and chair of the OPTN/UNOS board of directors. "We appreciate and commend the actions they have undertaken to this point. At the same time, the MPSC and OPTN/UNOS Board of Directors believe that probation is appropriate to ensure completion of these improvements and to document their effectiveness. This action underscores our commitments to maintain the highest standards for quality of care and safety for patients and to maintain public trust in the nation's transplant system."

As provided in the OPTN By-Laws, the information collected by UNOS staff was conveyed to the OPTN/UNOS Membership and Professional Standards Committee (MPSC) for confidential peer review. This process included an interview with UCI representatives on Jan. 31, 2006. The safety of patients and quality of care at UCI were paramount to the review.

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) is operated under contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Division of Transplantation by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). The OPTN brings together medical professionals, transplant recipients and donor families to develop organ transplantation policy.