HHS has started the decertification process for Network for Hope, the organ procurement organization serving Kentucky and parts of Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia, after federal reviews found ongoing patient safety failures.
The decertification effort stems from independent reviews by both CMS and the Health Resources and Services Administration, according to an Aug. 5 HHS news release shared with Becker’s. CMS’ review found continued quality concerns tied to donor evaluation, adverse event review and administration.
Network for Hope disputed the decision in a statement to Becker’s, and said it will appeal and said it is compliant with all Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network policies.
Network for Hope has faced scrutiny for nearly two years. In September 2024, a former employee told a House subcommittee that supervisors pressured staff to retrieve organs from a patient who was awake and later left the hospital alive, prompting an investigation by the Kentucky attorney general into the organization’s retrieval tactics. The organization denied wrongdoing.
In 2025, HRSA released findings that between 2021 and 2024, the administration examined 351 cases in which organ donation was authorized but not completed. The agency found 103 of those cases, or about 29%, showed concerning features, including 73 patients with neurological signs incompatible with organ donation. HRSA also raised questions about whether some potential donors were deceased when organ procurement began, along with issues involving neurologic assessments, care team coordination, consent practices and cause-of-death classification in overdose cases. Network for Hope disputed the report, citing a CMS compliance notice.
In 2025, those findings led HRSA to direct OPTN to place Network for Hope on a corrective action plan and monitoring program. HRSA and CMS each ran independent reviews to determine whether Network for Hope had fixed its problems, and both concluded it had not made sufficient improvement.
“When organizations entrusted with the care of potential organ donors fail to meet those standards, we have a responsibility to act,” HRSA Administrator Tom Engels said in the release.
CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, said the decertification is meant to send a message to every provider participating in CMS programs about accountability for patient safety and taxpayer dollars.
This is a rare move for HHS, which had decertified an organ procurement organization for the first time only in September 2025, when CMS pulled Medicare participation from Miami’s Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency over years of unsafe practices, understaffing and paperwork errors. Network for Hope’s decertification marks the second such action nationally.
The decertification is part of a broader set of organ procurement reforms HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. announced in July 2025, which also includes safeguards against line-skipping in organ allocation, a revamped misconduct reporting system, and a requirement that all organ procurement organizations appoint a patient safety officer.
At the Becker's 11th Annual IT + Revenue Cycle Conference: The Future of AI & Digital Health, taking place September 14–17 in Chicago, healthcare executives and digital leaders from across the country will come together to explore how AI, interoperability, cybersecurity, and revenue cycle innovation are transforming care delivery, strengthening financial performance, and driving the next era of digital health. Apply for complimentary registration now.
