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john lilley VP of Organ Operations donor network west
VP of Organ Operations

John Lilley

John Lilley brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the world of organ and tissue procurement as the Vice President of Organ Operations. John’s life has been intertwined with transplantation and donation for over 25 years when his father received a life-saving heart transplant. It was this miraculous gift that later drew John to Donor Network West (then California Transplant Donor Network) in 2001.

John began his career in healthcare almost 30 years ago when he faithfully served in the United States Air Force as a firefighter/paramedic eventually supervising fire and medical response personnel in multiple duty stations around the world.

After being honorably discharged, John joined CTDN in 2001 as the first non-RN Clinical Procurement Coordinator. John was called back to active duty in 2004 and served his country in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Fire Protection Specialist and Nationally Certified EMT-Paramedic. Upon his return to CTDN, John moved his family to Reno, Nevada to support the growing region in Northern Nevada for the organization. John advanced his career with CTDN in the role of Supervisor and Manager of Clinical Services all while obtaining his Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at the University of Nevada, Reno. He also completed his Certified Procurement Transplant Coordinator (CPTC) accreditation from the American Board of Transplant Coordinators.

John departed from Donor Network West in 2015 to serve as Director of Organ Clinical Operations at OneLegacy while earning his Master of Business Administration from Washington State University. Fortunately for Donor Network West, he returned in 2018 as Regional Director for Nevada. John’s region was the top performing region by metrics in 2019 as he helped build a culture of donation along with leading the efforts in transitioning all service area hospitals in Northern Nevada to Donor Network West as a single provider for both organ and tissue services. He assumed the role of Vice President of Organ Operations near the beginning of 2020.

As a life-long learner, John has returned back to school in pursuit of his Master of Science in Nursing degree to obtain his Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) credential at the University of Nevada, Reno. His experience, education, and leadership helps Donor Network West to be one of the nation’s top-performing organ procurement organizations.

In addition to being a passionate Wolf Pack alumnus, John is an avid baseball fan and grew up in Los Angeles where he became a Dodgers fan.