Hershey Transplant Program Cited

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center has been cited for failing to promptly notify transplant officials that transplant candidates had been removed from their waiting list.
In a recent report state Health Department found that in four cases the facility failed to notify the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network within 24 hours that a candidate had been dropped from the program waiting list. In one case there was a two week delay.
Candidates can be removed from the list for several reasons including death and procurement of an organ from another source.
The cases cited by the state range from April to October of 2020.
For instance when a patient was dropped from the wait list on Sept. 3, 2020, OPTN was not notified until Sept. 8.
In another case, the patient was dropped from the waiting list on April 9, 2020 but OPTN was not notified until April 24, 2020.
In its plan of correction submitted to the state, the medical center said it revised procedures to follow when a transplant candidate dies. The plan also provided for staff re-education on the notification requirement.
The report does not specify what organs the four patients were waiting for but Hershey has transplant programs for adult heart, kidney and liver and pediatric kidney.
In another action related to transplant programs, the state Health Department recertified adult heart, kidney, pancreas and liver transplant programs at Allegheny General Hospital.
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