Company: DCI Donor Services, Nashville, TN, U.S.A.
Entry Submitted By: Seigenthaler Public Relations
Company Description: DCI Donor Services (DCIDS), a non-profit family of organ procurement organizations in Tennessee, New Mexico and California comprised of Tennessee Donor Services, Sierra Donor Services, New Mexico Donor Services, DCI Donor Services Eye Bank and DCI Donor Services Tissue Bank.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Female Executive of the Year – Government or Non-Profit –11 to 2,500 Employees

Nomination Title: Jill Grandas, Corporate Executive Director

Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated executive since the beginning of July last year (up to 500 words):
 

For more than 25 years, Jill Grandas has helped people receive life-saving organ transplants. Since she started working in the organ recovery and donation field, Jill has been driven by a singular goal: improving healthcare by reducing the massive gap between the need for organs and the number of donations received.

She strives for this goal every day as corporate executive director of DCI Donor Services (DCIDS), a non-profit family of organ procurement organizations in Tennessee, New Mexico and California. Jill oversees the entire organization comprised of Tennessee Donor Services, Sierra Donor Services, New Mexico Donor Services, DCI Donor Services Eye Bank and DCI Donor Services Tissue Bank.

Today, the organ transplant waiting list is growing at the rate of 1,000 people per month, or one person every 13 minutes. But because of Jill’s dedication, more than 30,000 people within DCIDS’ donor service area received needed organ or tissue donations in 2011 alone, and under her direction, DCI Donor Services has grown to the ninth largest organ procurement organization in the country, serving 9.4 million people.

As corporate executive director, Jill has created an environment where employees can focus on giving hope to and improving the health of those they serve. The organization has experienced tremendous growth under her watch, with a 25% increase in transplanted organs and a 32% decrease in staff turnover.

In 2011, DCIDS recovered more than 1,000 organs that helped save lives through organ transplantation. It also enhanced the lives of more than 29,000 people by providing tissue grafts to its healthcare partners throughout the country. This 50% increase in recoveries is a significant accomplishment according to industry standards. At the same time, she was a key leader in the rebranding of DCIDS and the construction of a new website to ensure DCIDS kept current within the industry.

Earlier this year, Jill joined organizations across the country in spearheading an initiative on the social network Facebook to increase organ donations. On May 1, Facebook added a feature that allows people to share their organ donor status. She led her team at DCIDS in promoting this new feature, which produced an historic surge in online donor registrations. In the two days after the new feature was unveiled, online donor registrations jumped more than 2,150 percent in Tennessee, 2,400 percent in New Mexico and 2,516 percent in California.

Jill also works to reduce the disparity between the need for organs and donations as an active member of several professional organizations. In the past year, she has been an active member of the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations—where she serves on the Standards and Accreditation Committee and chairs the Standards Review Subcommittee—a member of the North American Transplant Coordinators Association, and is listed on the American Registry of Transplant Coordinators.

Jill has made tremendous strides toward ensuring that more people have access to live-saving organs and tissue. Her contributions to the organ procurement industry nationally are changing the healthcare field and patient care for the better.

Provide a brief biography of the nominated executive (up to 100 words):

Jill Grandas, RN, CPTC, is Corporate Executive Director at DCI Donor Services, Inc. She oversees operations for DCI Donor Services, Inc. family of organizations, which includes DCI Donor Services Tissue Bank, DCI Donor Services Eye Bank and organ and tissue procurement organizations in Tennessee, New Mexico and California.

Jill belongs to the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations, serving on the Standards and Accreditation Committee and chairing the Standards Review Subcommittee. A member of the North American Transplant Coordinators Association, she is listed on the American Registry of Transplant Coordinators and previously served on United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) committees.