LifeSaver Award Series: Kimberly Vasquez, RN, and Stephanie Connelly, RN, Providence St. Peter Hospital (Olympia, Wash.)

Each month, LifeCenter Northwest selects a LifeSaver Award winner. This award honors and recognizes those who demonstrate a commitment to improving donation outcomes and culture through their actions, time and energy.

We are pleased to present this month’s LifeSaver Award to Kimberly Vasquez, RN, and Stephanie Connelly, RN, who both work as OR charge nurses at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, Wash.

During a recent donation case, Vasquez and Connelly went above and beyond to make donation possible. Due to changing circumstances, LifeCenter Northwest staff unfortunately had to shift timing for the planned organ recovery in the hospital’s operating room several times.

After hearing about each timing change, Connelly and Vazquez graciously overcame the significant obstacle of rearranging OR bookings and calling staff to free up the OR. Eventually, it became necessary to shift 11 scheduled surgeries (an entire day’s worth) to an outpatient center in order to clear the OR for LifeCenter Northwest’s organ recovery.

“I can’t even tell you the amount of work this caused them both, and the hours they spent rearranging the schedule multiple times,” said Shellz Currier, a Surgical Recovery Coordinator at LifeCenter Northwest. “They deserve our gratitude, and everything they did truly allowed this donation to happen.”

Vasquez, Connelly and the whole St. Peter’s team showed a deep commitment to honoring this patient’s donation decision through the gift of life. Ultimately, LifeCenter was able to move forward with donation in Providence St. Peter’s OR, and the organs recovered from this donor went on to save four lives.

Both Connelly and Vasquez played significant roles in saving those lives, and we are proud to honor them with this LifeSaver Award.

“It was a pleasure to work with this amazing team, and I am so grateful for what they all did to help make this donation possible,” concluded Currier.