The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced this week its plans to decertify Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency, a major organ procurement organization (OPO) in Miami, following its federal investigation that allegedly uncovered years of “unsafe practices.”
The Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency is a division of the University of Miami Health System and is purported to service hospitals across South Florida and the Bahamas. Life Alliance is one of 55 nonprofits designated by the federal government that coordinates the transplantation of organs around the country. They are regulated by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, according to local media reporting.
In addition to unsafe practices, the investigation revealed “poor training, chronic underperformance, understaffing, and paperwork errors.”