Network for Hope CEO Addresses HHS Report on Organ Procurement Standards

Network for Hope's Role and Mission

• 🎯 Barry Massa, CEO of Network for Hope, testified before a House committee regarding an "alarming" HHS report on the organization's organ procurement standards.
• 💡 Network for Hope is a federally designated organ procurement organization (OPO) responsible for facilitating organ donation in Kentucky, parts of Ohio, West Virginia, and Indiana, formed by a merger in October 2024.
• 🤝 Massa emphasized that OPOs play a vital role in the deceased donation process and that public trust is essential and must be earned.

Clarifying OPO Functions

• ⚠️ Massa clarified that OPOs do not provide healthcare, participate in decisions to withdraw life-sustaining care, or declare a patient's death.
• 🏥 OPOs are not involved in recovering organs from living patients; their sole function is to facilitate organ recovery from deceased individuals.

Response to HHS Report

• 🔍 Network for Hope is expeditiously reviewing the issues and concerns raised in the March 2025 HRSA report.
• ✅ Patient safety is paramount, and Network for Hope will take all necessary actions to improve policies and procedures to ensure and promote patient safety.
• 🤝 The organization welcomes oversight and shares the goal of ensuring the highest standards in organ donation and transplantation.

Personal Impact and Advocacy

• ❤️ The testimony included personal stories from individuals impacted by organ donation: Miss Adria Johnson, whose son KJ became a DCD donor saving three lives, and Miss Shannon Atkins, whose son Keegan saved four children and one adult.
• 🌟 Massa shared his personal passion for donation, inspired by a friend's daughter who received a transplant and later became an eye donor.
• 🙏 The CEO expressed gratitude for the support and looks forward to collaborative work to improve the donation process, echoing the sentiment that "we have to get this right."