Congresswoman Cori Bush Calls on Organ Procurement Organizations to “Stop Sitting on Massive Piles of Cash” and Start Saving Lives
WASHINGTON, DC – In a House Economic and Consumer Policy Subcommittee hearing today, Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01), a former transplant nurse, questioned Steve Miller, Chief Executive Officer of the Association for Organ Procurement Organizations, Matt Wadsworth, President and Chief Executive Officer of Life Connection of Ohio, and Dr. Seth Karp, Director of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center on the urgent need to reform Organ Procurement Organizations (O.P.Os), obtain more organs for transplant, and eliminate health disparities.
A full transcript of her questioning and exchange with the witnesses is available below.
Transcript: Congresswoman Cori Bush Questions Witnesses on Organ Procurement Organizations in House Oversight Committee Hearing (May 4, 2021)
CONGRESSWOMAN CORI: Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman for convening this important hearing and to the ranking members, as well. St. Louis and I absolutely thank you.
So, as a former transplant nurse myself, kidney, liver and kidney-pancreas, I personally treated and counseled patients suffering through chronic and severe illnesses. Black and brown patients are more likely to suffer from illnesses like kidney failure and less likely to get an organ transplant. For them, the promise of receiving an organ is too often delayed or denied, because there aren’t enough organs available. I’ve watched this system fail dying patients, time and time again I’ve watched this. I’ve watched this system fail young people, older adults, and far too many Black and brown people. Our failing organ donation system is a death sentence for thousands.
My time treating transplant patients has stayed with me, and I cannot overstate the urgency of this issue. We must do everything in our power to fix this system.
In St. Louis, nearly 1,100 people are currently waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant that may never come. Each O.P.O is solely responsible in its region for obtaining organs for transplant from deceased donors and facilitating transplants. Each O.P.O is a monopoly. If the O.P.O fails at securing organs, no one else can provide this service. That’s the thing - no one else can do this work.
It’s so critical that O.P.Os pursue every potential organ. They must invest resources to build relationships with hospitals and communities.
Mr. Wadsworth, in a letter to this Subcommittee, A.O.P.O complained it was unrealistic to pursue 100% of organs. Yes or no, if O.P.Os invest in staff and build the right relationships with hospitals, shouldn’t that be their goal?
MR. WADSWORTH: Yes.
CONGRESSWOMAN CORI: Thank you, I agree. I would rather hear solutions from O.P.Os than excuses.
It’s outrageous that providers will make referrals for potential donor patients to an O.P.O, and yet the O.P.O would not go to the hospital to assess the patient and speak with the patient’s family about donation. Like showing up seems like it would be the bare minimum.
I’ve had patients who waited *years* on organ donation lists. They turned their lives upside down to make dialysis appointments, to be there three days a week, altering their diets, fell into depression and were traumatized because O.P.Os refused to show up.
Dr. Karp, A.O.P.O’s own documents show that one O.P.O only approached 11% of the families of potential donors referred by hospitals. That means they ignore nearly 90% of those families. That’s a shocking gap between referrals and follow up.
So, if O.P.Os approached more families of potential donors, do you think it would increase the number of organ donations? Yes or no.
DR. KARP: I’m proud to say that Vanderbilt is the largest donor hospital in the country, and we have O.P.O staff on site 24/7 and it makes a huge difference.
CONGRESSWOMAN CORI: Huge difference, oh my gosh. How would the lives of patients on organ donation waiting lists, especially patients of color, improve if O.P.Os were required to operate under these higher standards?
DR. KARP: Everybody wins.
CONGRESSWOMAN CORI: Thank you. Mr. Miller, many of your O.P.Os keep millions of dollars sitting around. Based on recent tax filings, OneLegacy in Los Angeles has over $110 million in net assets and in a related foundation.
Mr. Miller, instead of sitting on massive piles of cash, shouldn’t O.P.Os be deploying that money to train staff on outreach, best practices, and ensuring staffing is sufficient to visit potential donor families?
MR. MILLER: Congresswoman what I would respond by saying is those decisions are made with the board of OneLegacy. I can’t speak to their decisions on what they do. I can only speak to what we at A.O.P.O would do.
CONGRESSWOMAN CORI: Alright. This issue is literally a matter of life or death. I came to Congress to save lives because too many of my neighbors, my loved ones, and my community members are dying because of broken systems and processes and it’s somebody else’s fault and it’s somebody else’s job and in between that people actually die, like lives are lost. All reasons that could be prevented. We must not wait to ensure we are doing the absolute most to protect and save lives.
Thank you, and I yield back, says this nurse.
To watch and download the Congresswoman’s full exchange, click here.
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Congresswoman Cori Bush represents Missouri’s First Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. She serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. She is also a Deputy Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a proud member of the Congressional Black Caucus. She is a registered nurse, single mother, and an ordained pastor. Following the murder of Michael Brown Jr. by a now-terminated Ferguson police officer, she became a civil rights activist and community organizer fighting for justice for Black lives on the streets of Missouri and across the country.