Donation Liaison

Gift of Hope is proud to serve as the federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organization (OPO) that coordinates organ and tissue donation and provides compassionate service to families of donors in the northern three-quarters of Illinois and northwest Indiana.

Since our inception in 1986, we have coordinated donations that have saved the lives of more than 23,000 organ transplant recipients, and improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of tissue transplant recipients. As one of 58 organ procurement organizations that make up the nation’s organ donation system, we work with 183 hospitals in our donation service area.

The Donation Liaison position develops and maintains a positive donation culture with the assigned hospitals thereby assisting in achieving donation goals.  Responsible for ensuring all donors and potential donor families are offered the opportunity for donation through the collaboration of both internal and external partners.  Facilitates the gift of donation through policy implementation, evaluation, authorization and family support before, during and after the entire donation process.

Compensation range for this position is $63,000- $70,000 annually

Our Benefits

In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a comprehensive benefits package:

• Medical, dental, vision, disability and life insurance options for full-time employees
• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO) plan
• 403(b) retirement plan with company match
• Tuition Reimbursement up to the IRS-allowed maximum
• Personalized learning and educational development opportunities
• Monthly cell phone and internet stipends
• Paid Parental Leave
• Annual Employer-funded Lifestyle Spending Accounts to support wellness needs
• Support and counseling for personal, work financial or family needs through our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and our partnership with Critical Incident Stress Consultants (CISC)

The following essential functions are the basic job duties that an employee must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation.

• Advance Gift of Hope's mission, vision and core values:  providing compassionate service, contributing to outstanding teams and engaging as one of our passionate people committed to a positive culture that embraces diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Adhere to all policies and procedures in carrying out the responsibilities of this position.
• Maintain Organ/Tissue Authorization responsibilities
  • Respond to organ and tissue referrals at assigned hospitals and throughout Gift of Hope’s Donation Service Area (DSA)
  • Conduct accurate, effective early on-sites/phone evaluations
  • Review hospital charts and current records of potential donors for medical eligibility/suitability
  • Participate in medical rounds with neuro and trauma services and facilitate necessary testing and services
  • Conduct Patient Care Conferences with hospital staff during critical points in the referral and/or authorization process
  • Assess medical status and determine organ donor potential per Gift of Hope criteria in conjunction with the Administrator-on-Call (AOC) and/or Gift of Hope Medical Director
  • Document findings and follow-up plans in hospital charts; communicate to hospital staff while on-site
  • Communicate pertinent information with Donor Resource Center and AOC
  • Effectively gather patient clinical and social/emotional information for evaluation purposes
  • Determine legal next-of-kin and/or decision maker
  • Facilitate donation of donors in first-person registry; guide family to help them understand the donation process
  • Develop rapport with donor family
  • Compassionately provide information about the benefits of donation to potential organ donor families to authorize organ and/or tissue donation; meet minimum authorization rate
  • Counsel families through donation process and provide support during and after the donation process and provide outcomes post-op
  • Participate in departmental quality assurance initiatives

• Maintain Hospital Development responsibilities for assigned hospitals
  • Function as an expert resource within the hospital on all aspects of organ and tissue donation
  • Meet with hospital QA team to conduct weekly and/or monthly medical record review of missed opportunities for donation
  • Establish and maintain meaningful relationships with hospital staff
  • Collaborate with hospital administration to develop and implement plans to optimize hospital performance
  • Track hospital results to monitor progress and modify plans as needed
  • Review and analyze key donation outcomes to identify areas of opportunity
  • Develop solutions to issues that impede the donation process
  • Facilitate hospital programs and committees that influence organ and tissue donation
  • Develop and present professional education programs such as hospital unit-specific presentations, physician in-services, medical grand rounds, hospital ethics committee presentations, etc.

• Other duties as assigned

Education and Training Required

The following identifies the minimum education and training required to perform the essential functions of the job.

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in allied healthcare field, business administration, education, advocacy or related field; or equivalent work experience

Experience and Skills Required

The following indicates the minimum skills and experience required to perform the essential functions of the job.

• Confident and comfortable in the presence of emotional distress, dying and death
• Ability to interpret verbal and non-verbal communication, and to demonstrate situational awareness, compassion and empathetic listening skills
• Ability to communicate effectively and compassionately with families of potential donors to present the option of organ and tissue donation
• Ability to multi-task and coordinate the activities for self and others in an environment where priorities change quickly
• Ability to maneuver and pay attention to detail in chart documentation
• Previous training/presentation experience
• Ability to speak persuasively and influence senior level hospital staff to change hospital policy and/or practice
• Demonstrated ability to analyze and interpret data
• Ability to effectively communicate policies, procedures, and regulations
• Ability to function with a high degree of autonomy
• Ability to develop alternatives and options to meet the needs of hospitals, family members, and Gift of Hope
• Ability to learn and understand hospital administrative and clinical functions
• Ability to operate audiovisual equipment such as overhead and/or LCD Projectors, VCR, video camera, etc.
• Basic computer skills

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

• Ability to hear, speak, and convey information to co-workers, hospital staff, and potential donor families
• Ability to deliver presentations to a variety of audiences using multimedia equipment
• Ability to hear and comprehend clinical information
• Comfortable being present at the time of death in the ICU and operating room setting
• Manual dexterity to input data

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that will be encountered by an employee while performing the essential functions of the job.

• Remote office environment
• Hospital clinical environment
• Work outside normal business hours on nights and weekends
• Ability to travel to hospitals across our service area, as well as to the Itasca office for meetings and trainings, on off-call days, as needed
• Access to reliable transportation to travel to multiple locations in one day within Illinois and northwest Indiana
• Carry a mobile device and cell phone to be accessible during assigned call schedule and regular working hours

The policy of Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network is to promote equal employment opportunity through a positive and continuous program of specific practices designed to ensure the full realization of equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, or status as a disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, other protected veteran, or Armed Forces service medal veteran designated under the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act, as amended (VEVRAA).  This reaffirms our commitment to this policy.