National Kidney Registry paid founder’s firm millions as it shifted commercial operations

The New York Times reports that the National Kidney Registry, a group that has matched nearly 12,000 living-kidney paired donations, paid millions to a technology company owned by its founder, Garet Hil, and in 2023 moved commercial operations to a for-profit owned by Mr. Hil. Founded as a nonprofit in 2007, N.K.R.

charges hospitals subscription and per-transplant fees that have risen over time — contracts reviewed by The Times show annual subscription fees for some hospitals climbed from roughly $2,500 in 2011 to about $30,000 today, and other charges related to testing, travel and logistics can exceed $60,000 per transplant.

About 40 percent of U.S. transplant centers work with N.K.R., and the registry’s median wait time for patients is roughly two months, compared with several years on the national deceased-donor waiting list, the report said. The Times said N.K.R. paid Hil & Co., the founder’s technology firm, at least $39 million from 2012 through 2023; in 2023 the charity reported $69 million in revenue and paid Hil & Co.

$8.2 million that year. In June 2023 the charity’s commercial operations were sold for $2.6 million to Best Match Corporation, a company with a single owner and employee identified as Garet Hil, according to filings cited by The Times.

Key Topics

Health, National Kidney Registry, Garet Hil, Hil & Co, Best Match Corporation, Paired Donations