The Association for Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO) has named Gift of Life Michigan President and CEO Dorrie Dils as its president-elect. The Saline resident will serve in the national role for one year before becoming president of the association that leads the nation’s organ donation community.
“I’m honored to serve in this national role. I’m committed, as are my colleagues across the country, to make the world’s most successful organ donation system even greater,” she said. “No one in America should die waiting for a transplant. Through the continued generosity of donors and the incredibly dedicated staff in our nation’s system of OPOs, I know we can get there.”
Dils was named president and CEO of Gift of Life Michigan in 2016 and has worked since then to increase donation and save more lives for recipients in this state and beyond. Gift of Life is headquartered in Ann Arbor.
As the leader of the nation’s 10th-largest organ and tissue program, Dils oversees a staff of more than 350 professionals who work statewide to help fulfill the decisions of organ and tissue donors and their families.
“Organ donation doesn’t happen without donors and their families,” said Dils, who has worked to ensure that opportunities for those gifts are not missed. Dils has led her team to a 35% increase in organ donors and doubled the number of tissue donors since her arrival.
Dils began her career as a registered nurse in a busy Level-I trauma intensive care unit in Columbus, Ohio. She transitioned to organ donation in 1991 as a donation coordinator for Lifeline of Ohio, where she served in various capacities until eventually becoming the Chief Clinical Officer.
Dils has been active nationally, serving on the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN) OPO and Thoracic committees. She will begin serving on the Transplant Administrators Committee in July and is vice chair of the University of Toledo Donation and Transplant Sciences program. She is a former chair of the AOPO Ethics Committee and serves as vice chair of its Advocacy Committee.
Dils was a faculty member for the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) collaborative. She served as a board member for the National Kidney Foundation of Ohio and the Multiple Sclerosis Society. In 2004, she was named by Business First as one of the top “40 under 40” and, in 2020, Dils was named a Notable Woman in Health by Crain’s Detroit Business.
Dils has a bachelor’s in nursing from Franklin University and a master’s in healthcare administration from Ohio University.
