HonorBridge, an organ procurement organization in Chapel Hill, N.C., is suing the federal government over its decision to allow Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist to switch to a new transplant partner, according to court documents obtained by Becker’s.
CMS granted Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Wake Forest Baptist a waiver in December to switch from HonorBridge to LifeShare Carolinas, an OPO owned by Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health. Wake Forest Baptist, which joined Atrium in 2020, had partnered with HonorBridge for the past four decades.
Under CMS regulations, hospitals must work with their region’s designated OPO to ensure a stable and efficient transplant system, with waivers to this rule granted only in limited cases in which increased donation and equitable patient treatment can be demonstrated with supporting data.
HonorBridge filed a lawsuit in federal court against CMS and HHS on March 11, alleging the government overstepped its authority by granting the waiver. HonorBridge also alleges the switch will significantly disrupt the region’s organ donation and transplant system. The organization has recovered more than 2,500 organs from the hospital during its partnership, according to a March 13 news release.
“As a result of the waiver, HonorBridge will lose its forty-year relationship with one
of the largest transplant hospitals in North Carolina — one of the most active transplant hospitals in the United States — and the largest provider of organs in HonorBridge’s [donation service area], resulting in a series of irreparable harms,” the organization wrote in the lawsuit.
HonorBridge is seeking to overturn the waiver and has requested a preliminary injunction to halt Wake Forest Baptist’s transition to LifeShare Carolinas until the case is complete. CMS declined to comment on the pending litigation.
On March 26, Wake Forest Baptist filed a motion to intervene in HonorBridge’s lawsuit against CMS and HHS, aiming to defend the federal waiver that allows it to switch organ procurement partners. In its motion and supporting brief, which were shared with Becker’s, the hospital contends that CMS acted appropriately in granting the waiver, relying on data showing LifeShare consistently outperforms HonorBridge in donation and transplant rates.
“Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist filed a waiver in August 2022, which was approved by CMS, to partner with LifeShare, a top Tier 1 rated organ procurement organization, over HonorBridge, which is rated two tiers lower,” the hospital said in a March 27 statement to Becker’s. “In our recent legal motion to intervene in the case filed by HonorBridge against CMS, we highlighted several key facts that have led to our decision to transition, including LifeShare’s consistent performance reports from 2021 through 2023, while HonorBridge’s performance declined, dropping from a Tier 2 to a Tier 3 organization during the same period. Simply put, our decision to transition to LifeShare is driven by our belief that this partnership will increase both organ donations and transplant success — and most importantly, save even more lives.”
In addition to defending the waiver’s merits, Wake Forest Baptist said blocking the transition would disrupt months of preparation and harm patients awaiting transplants. The hospital also emphasized that CMS, not the courts, is best equipped to evaluate OPO performance and that HonorBridge’s objections rely on outdated and flawed data.
