After nearly two years of probation, Buffalo, N.Y.-based Erie County Medical Center now has full member privileges with the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network and the United Network for Organ Sharing.
The two organizations released ECMC, as well as Nebraska Organ Recovery System, from probation June 7.
"Both institutions have demonstrated commendable improvements in quality management and training and have successfully addressed the concerns that led to the earlier action," said OPTN/UNOS President Betsy Walsh.
OPTN/UNOS puts organizations on probation when they are "executing a corrective action plan for noncompliance with OPTN policies or bylaws, or a serious lapse in patient safety or quality of care." Being on probation does not mean the organization cannot continue to offer transplant services.
ECMC was placed on probation because it needed to address issues related to evaluating potential living donors, according to Buffalo Business First.
"Every member of our department has worked diligently to raise the level of excellence and quality of the services we provide to every patient that comes to us," Liise Kayler, MD, program director of the Regional Center of Excellence for Transplantation and Kidney Care at ECMC, told Buffalo Business First.
ECMC offers kidney and pancreas transplants.