Welcome to today’s episode of This Thing Called Life, where we explore the evolving landscape of organ, tissue, and eye donation. Join us as we chat with Dorrie Dils, the CEO of Gift of Life Michigan and the new President of the AOPO.

In this episode, Dorrie and Andi Johnson delve into Dorrie’s journey as a female CEO in the transplant field, discussing the challenges and triumphs she’s faced along the way. They’ll also highlight the significant increase in donations following expanded donor criteria, reflect on Dorrie’s impactful speech, and uncover the steps that led her to this pivotal role. Don’t miss this insightful conversation!

Episode Highlights:

• Dorrie Dils, president and CEO of Gift Of Life Michigan and the new president of the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations, shares her experience in her inaugural year as president.
• Dorrie shares that she has been in this field for 33 years, and there's been tremendous pressure from Congress, the White House, and outside entities to drive donation forward.
• There have been concerns due to change in metrics which may cause a rise in decertified OPO’s and what that will do for patients who are waiting and for donors and donor families who wish to donate.
• There has been a lot of change but Dorrie shares that she feels better today than ever before.
• Dorrie shares that the other big thing, which can't be denied, is just the massive increase in donations after circulatory death or ECD.
• Andi asked Dorrie what other positions she has worked in the OPO, Andi wanted to take a minute to have Dorrie share, as a woman in this field, what she did to reach her position of leadership today.
• Dorrie shares that she was in Critical Care Nursing, then a Donation Coordinator, and at times needed to be in hospital development, PR and Public Education. Leadership opportunities led her to becoming procurement director then Chief Clinical Officer, before becoming the president, and CEO.
• Dorrie talks about her speech and what motivated her to talk about correlating the Barbie Movie (2023) and the need to be perfect in the transplant world.

3 Key Points:

1. President and CEO of the Gift Of Life Michigan and the new president of the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations, Dorrie Dils shares her experience in her inaugural year of presidency, and the challenges due to changes.
2. Dorrie shares that the other big thing, which can't be denied, is the massive increase in donation after circulatory death or ECD.
3. Dorrie shares her years of experience, the steps that she had to take before stepping into her leadership role as a woman CEO, and the role of her deep passion for her working field.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “I've been in this field for 33 years, and it truly is the biggest change I've ever seen in our work, and there's been tremendous pressure from Congress and the White House and outside entities to drive donation forward, which has been a good thing.” - Dorrie Dils
• “We have in the world, have the best system for organ transplantation. And I think sometimes that gets forgotten.” - Andi Johnson
• “But I think the biggest ‘aha’ moment is just how I've always been a hard worker. I've always felt in control of my success.” - Dorrie Dils
• “This field has evolved so much, and one of the things that I really hope will be my legacy is the evolution of how women are seen and treated in this field.” - Dorrie Dils

Resources:

https://getoffthelist.org/

https://lifepassiton.org/

https://lifepassiton.org/board-of-directors-leadership/

https://www.facebook.com/LifeCenterOH

https://www.youtube.com/user/LifeCenterOH

https://aopo.org/