OPTN/UNOS Board of Directors releases Indiana Donor Network and Gulf Coast Medical Center from probation

Published on: Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Richmond, Va. – At a teleconference May 2, 2018, the OPTN/UNOS Board of Directors restored full member privileges for two organizations:

• Indiana Donor Network, an organ procurement organization coordinating organ donation in 85 of Indiana’s 92 counties
• Gulf Coast Medical Center, a transplant hospital based in Fort Myers, Fla.

The Board had placed Indiana Donor Network on probation in December 2016 after a routine site survey of records at the organization identified concerns with completeness of documentation in donor charts and adherence to its established quality processes.

The Board had placed Gulf Coast Medical Center on probation in December 2015, after peer review of the hospital revealed concerns with its processes for evaluation of potential living donors.

Both institutions implemented corrective actions and quality reviews and were subject to detailed monitoring by the OPTN Membership and Professional Standards Committee (MPSC). The MPSC concluded that both organizations have made improvements and recommended that the Board of Directors restore their full member privileges.

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) brings together medical professionals, transplant recipients and donor families to develop national organ transplantation policy. United Network for Organ Sharing serves as the OPTN under contract with the Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration.