The little-known physician overseeing the American organ transplant system has unique experience fighting entrenched systems on behalf of patient welfare that could help him shape national policy.
On Monday, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. published a statement that his department has launched a “major initiative” to overhaul the organ procurement process after a barrage of recent reports and federal investigations have uncovered that some patients may have been selected for organ donation without being deceased.
Lynch is at the forefront of reforms to the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network, the public-private partnership that manages the relationships between the 54 organ procurement organizations and the hospitals they serve.
Before being tasked with this nationwide reform effort, Lynch was dismissed from the Penn State Health Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, for vocalizing concerns about patient welfare to hospital administration. His ouster was viewed as a scandal in the state.
That experience could prove instrumental in reforming the organ transplant system at a national level, as it faces an urgent need to balance the high demand for transplant organs with dignity for donors.
From PA to the Beltway
Lynch was hired by the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, run by Penn State Health, in February 2023 to serve as director of quality control for the abdominal transplant unit, focusing on the kidneys, liver, and other gastrointestinal organs.
The hospital system had paused organ transplants the previous year altogether following a federal rebuke for a series of patient complaints, including several instances where transplant patients had to undergo additional surgery to correct medical problems. The OPTN had labeled the Hershey Medical Center a “member not in good standing,” the rarest and most severe degree of condemnation.
Lynch, previously a renowned surgeon at Emory University, was brought on to help the hospital revitalize its transplant program, but he was abruptly let go in April 2024 after a series of conflicts with hospital administration regarding continued patient safety issues.
Investigative reporters from the local news outlet Spotlight PA in June 2024 spoke with several Penn State Health current and former employees under condition of anonymity regarding Lynch’s dismissal. They indicated that Lynch’s exit was attributable to a culture of intimidation and resistance to change pervasive in the institution.
Six months later, in October 2024, Lynch was hired by the Health Resources and Services Administration under the HHS umbrella to oversee the national organ transplant system.
A HRSA spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that Lynch was hired as the Chief of the Organ Transplant Branch “due to his unique expertise as a transplant surgeon and his unwavering commitment to patient safety.”
“With a long and respected career in transplant medicine, Dr. Lynch brings a deep clinical insight and a clear dedication to improving healthcare outcomes, qualities that make him an invaluable addition to HRSA,” said the spokesperson.
Penn State Health declined requests for comment regarding Lynch’s new position as a federal oversight authority.
Federal investigation into patient abuse
Egregious alleged violations of organ donor patients began to draw media attention shortly before HRSA hired Lynch to oversee reforms.
During an Energy and Commerce Committee hearing in September 2024, Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) relayed the story of a man in Kentucky who, despite being declared brain dead, woke up on the operating table moments before surgeons were to operate for extraction to donate.
An HRSA investigation into the Kentucky organ procurement organization started after the department hired Lynch in his supervisory capacity.
The investigation included a review of 351 organ procurement cases in Kentucky between December 2024 and February 2025 that did not result in donation, designated as “Authorized – Not Recovered.” Of those cases, nearly 30% — 103 patients — presented “concerning features,” including 73 patients for whom neurological signs of life were present after being approved for organ donation surgery.
At least 28 patients in the HRSA review “had no cardiac time of death noted, suggesting potential survival to hospital discharge,” according to the corrective action plan issued by the agency following the investigation.
Lynch testified during Tuesday’s hearing that the corrective action policies implemented this spring for the Kentucky organ procurement organization are being enacted nationwide to ensure patient safety.
“This is a public good,” Lynch said Tuesday, referring to organ donation. “This is something that restores hope to individuals who have suffered loss in the case of the donor families, and it literally restores life to people on the waitlist.”
The HRSA spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that Kennedy’s HHS “has been aware and actively involved on all aspects of OPTN modernization.”
Modernization efforts include improved data collection, new procedures to report concerns or misconduct, and increased transparency and oversight systems.
Bipartisan push for reform
Republicans and Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee stressed the urgency of rebuilding trust in the organ donor system following reports of declining registered donors after the Kentucky incident.
There are currently over 103,000 people in the United States on the organ transplant waiting list. There are roughly 170 million organ donors in the U.S., but only about 3 in 1,000 people die in circumstances that allow for organ donation, according to the Donor Alliance.
Roughly 13 people die each day waiting for an organ.
Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) gave an emotional opening statement during Tuesday’s hearing, saying that his mother died while waiting for a liver transplant.
“We must have a culture of transparency within the organ procurement and transplant system, one that encourages reporting concerns and then taking them seriously,” said Guthrie.
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Democrats agreed that trust needs to be rebuilt and bipartisan reforms crafted, but Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) questioned whether Kennedy’s reorganization of agencies within HHS, including HRSA, into an umbrella Administration for a Healthy America would jeopardize the functionality of the organ transplant oversight system.
“I just want everyone to understand: with somebody in charge like Secretary Kennedy, who I really don’t think has any idea what he’s doing, it’s hard to be convinced that any reorganization could be, you know, productive or helpful,” Pallone said.
