Richard Pietroski, CEO of Gift of Life Michigan, has been elected to the position of treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network/United Network for Organ Sharing. As board treasurer and executive committee member, Pietroski will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of budgeting, auditing and fiscal compliance. His one-year term will begin on July 1, 2015, and end on June 30, 2016.
The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) is a unique public-private partnership that links all professionals involved in the U.S. donation and transplantation system. The United Network for Organ Sharing, or UNOS, holds the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services contract to operate the OPTN and to advance the mission to improve organ availability and transplantation by uniting and supporting its communities for the benefit of patients through education, technology and policy development.
The 41-member Board of Directors oversees and participates in developing policies for operating the OPTN that provide equitable organ allocation to patients registered on the single national waiting list, ensure quality standards for membership, and establish data submission requirements.
Pietroski, a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and Madonna University, has been CEO of Gift of Life Michigan, the state’s organ and tissue recovery program, since 2008, leading all aspects of the nearly 200-employee organization based in Ann Arbor. Throughout his 40 years in the healthcare field, including over 30 with Gift of Life, Pietroski has worked with transplant centers, hospital administrators and government officials to promote the growth of organ and tissue donation and save more lives through transplantation.
