Overview
- UNOS confirmed it furloughed about 90 employees after federal officials ordered routine oversight to halt.
- HHS and HRSA said donor registration, waitlist additions, transplants, and responses to urgent safety risks will continue without interruption.
- Many OPTN committee meetings were canceled, including monitoring tied to recent heart and lung transplant policy implementations.
- UNOS said the government owes it more than $10 million for 2024 OPTN work, compounding shutdown pressures alongside a contract extension that ends Dec. 29.
- More than 100,000 people await transplants nationwide as the funding standoff in Congress continues following failed Senate votes.