The organization that obtains organs for transplant procedures in several Cincinnati-area hospitals is being federally decertified after claims of patient safety issues, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Network for Hope, the 16th-largest organ procurement organization in the United States, serves 7 million people across Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia. The Louisville-based nonprofit facilitates human organ and tissue donations for transplant procedures and has board members affiliated with The Christ Hospital, UC Health, St. Elizabeth Healthcare, Mercy Health and Cincinnati Children's.
On behalf of hospitals located in Greater Cincinnati, The Health Collaborative said in an emailed statement
that they do not anticipate any impact to patient care, transplant services or organ donation practices because of the decertification decision.
"Patients and families can be confident that organ donation services in Greater Cincinnati will continue without interruption," the statement said. "Organ donation saves thousands of lives, and local hospitals are hopeful that any issues identified by HHS can be resolved promptly so Network for Hope can return its full focus to its critical lifesaving mission."
Though they serve as the primary organ procurement organization for Kentucky, St. Elizabeth Healthcare does not anticipate any changes to care, according to a released statement.
Findings from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, along with reports from Health Resources and Services Administration, were cited as the basis for decertification, according to the press release. It comes as part of ongoing reforms launched by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in July 2025.
In a released statement, Network for Hope CEO Barry Massa said the organization will appeal Kennedy's decision to decertify and maintains that Network for Hope is compliant with Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network policies, including a Kentucky law passedin April 2026 that established a "pause in procedure" process for organ donors who show changes in their conditions − legislation that Network for Hope helped draft, Massa said.
Between 2021 and 2024, the Department's Health Resources and Services Administration reviewed 351 cases where organ donation was authorized but not completed at Network for Hope. The findings allege that over 29% of those cases showed "concerning features," including 73 patients with neurological signs that interfere with the donation.
The report also says some potential donors may not have been dead at the time organ procurement was started.
While the press release does not list specific cases, court documents attained by The Enquirer surrounding an ongoing lawsuit in Kentucky's Jefferson County Circuit Court detail the experience of a patient − known as "Hoover" − who was admitted to the hospital after a drug overdose left him unresponsive.
Nyckoletta Martin, the plaintiff and former employee of Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates − called Network for Hope since 2024 − resigned from the organization after reports that Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates pressured Hoover's transplant coordinator to proceed with the procedure despite Hoover showing signs of brain function.
Martin also sent a letter to the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce in September 2024 describing the experience with Hoover. In July 2025, Massa testified before the committee meeting saying the hearing was "a platform to promote serious, false and never-before-reported allegations,” which Network for Hope “vehemently” denied.
Massa also said more than 3,000 people waiting for organ transplants will be negatively impacted by the decertification decision, but a follow-up statement said that none of the 188 hospitals Network for Hope serves will be impacted. The organization did not respond to a question asking them to clarify the apparent discrepancy between the two statements.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Organ transplant organization for Cincinnati, NKY loses license
