HOUSTON — Memorial Hermann Hospital-Texas Medical Center, a medical center in Houston, is facing serious penalties due to multiple issues with its liver transplant program’s compliance, patient safety and corrective actions.

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) declared the hospital to be “not in good standing” at a Feb. 20 meeting, issuing the most severe penalty.

OPTN’s investigation revealed Memorial Hermann manipulated donor criteria to disqualify candidates, lacked inter-team and patient communication and fostered a retaliatory environment.

In April, an investigation revealed a doctor’s improper alterations to Memorial Hermann’s liver transplant database, changing deceased donor age and weight.

Although the hospital claimed changes only impacted the liver transplant database, shared leadership resulted in the suspension of both liver and kidney transplant programs, OPTN said.

Long-term inactivation of transplant programs, due to shutdowns, obligates those programs, per OPTN policies, to provide continued care for their candidates.

Memorial Hermann’s Texas Medical Center will now face increased oversight from transplant officials, and, unlike other facilities, will have no say in developing transplant policies.

Despite the voluntary shutdown of its liver, pancreas and kidney transplant programs for nearly a year due to investigations, the hospital can still conduct transplants.

With other hospitals permanently closing transplant programs after similar sanctions, the long-term viability of this liver transplant program is questionable.