Overview
- Health and Human Services announced on Aug. 5 that it has started the formal decertification process for Network for Hope, the organ procurement group serving parts of Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia.
- HHS, citing HRSA and CMS reviews of 351 cases from 2021–2024, said 103 cases showed concerning features, including 73 with neurological signs incompatible with organ donation and some instances where procurement may have begun before death was confirmed.
- Network for Hope says it disagrees with the decision, plans to appeal, and points to new safeguards it helped develop such as a statewide pause‑in‑procedure process that allows recovery to be halted if signs of life appear.
- HHS officials say patient care and transplant services will continue to be monitored and maintained while agencies identify a replacement provider, even as the group serves about seven million people and Network for Hope warns the move could affect more than 3,000 people on waiting lists.
- The action is the latest step in HHS reforms that began in 2025 to strengthen oversight of organ procurement, follows congressional inquiries and state law changes, and could influence public trust and organ‑donor rates going forward.