From CBS5.com:
(AP) SAN FRANCISCO — A national organ transplant association criticized Kaiser Permanente’s San Francisco Medical Center Wednesday for mismanaging its kidney transplant program.
The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network declared the medical center to be a “member not in good standing” because it “effectively denied patient access to kidney transplantation and threatened safety for patients on its waiting list,” network president Sue McDiarmid said in a statement.
The San Francisco Medical Center announced in May it would close its kidney transplant program following accusations that patients’ lives were endangered by botched paperwork and administrative errors.
The program is scheduled to close after all its patients are transferred to other transplant centers.
Mary Ann Thode, president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals in the Northern California region, said the designation would not impact the kidney program’s operations.
“Our patients’ ability to get a kidney remains the same,” Thode said.
So far, about 85 percent of its 2,313 kidney transplant patients have been transferred to medical centers at the University of California at San Francisco and the University of California at Davis, Thode said. The remaining 356 patients should be transferred by early next year.
I have a concern after reading some of these articles. My sister will be receiving a kidney transplant at a Kaiser Hospital in San Francisco. We live in Texas and are unable to be with her at that time and I am very concerned that something should happen to her. Where can I call and who do I call to make sure that she will be receiving the best care given?
Hi,
I shortened your last name and removed your sister’s identifying information.
It surprises me that your sister’s transplant is being performed at a Kaiser hospital, as it was my understanding that since Kaiser closed its transplant program all of the surgeries are being done at UCSF or UC Davis.
In general, the problems with the Kaiser program were related to bad record-keeping during the switch from the contracted hospitals above to Kaiser’s inhouse program. People who actually did get the surgery at Kaiser had good outcomes.
If you have questions about the problems with Kaiser’s kidney transplant program, you can contact the Department of Managed Health Care.
Best wishes!