LifeSaver Award Series: Jacque Quantrille, Alaska Native Medical Center (Anchorage, Alaska)

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 Jacque Quantrille, who is Director of Nursing, Critical Care, Progressive Care and Respiratory Therapy at Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC) in Anchorage, Alaska.

Recently, we worked with ANMC to evaluate a potential organ donor following a timely donation referral. At the time, ANMC was experiencing a high volume of patients as well as a staffing shortage, as were many Alaska hospitals. Despite those significant challenges, Jacque and her staff were amazingly collaborative and took great care to preserve this patient’s donation opportunity.

Although the family of this potential organ donor was supportive of donation and saving lives, there were still unexpected difficulties to overcome. Thankfully, Jacque was willing to be persistent, problem-solve and work through each and every challenge while also supporting the patient’s family throughout. On top of all this, while in the midst of this donation case, ANMC had to undergo a necessary activation of crisis standards of care due to COVID-related challenges.

In the face of all of these obstacles, it would have been easy for Jacque and her staff at ANMC to walk away from this case, but she remained deeply committed to donation.

“We are so grateful for Jacque and for her willingness to calmly and logically assess the situation, make difficult decisions and act accordingly,” said Lulu Jensen, LifeCenter Northwest Hospital Development Program Manager. “Jacque truly made donation possible during this nearly impossible time.”

Thanks to Jacque and her team’s clinical expertise and incredible compassion, we were able to honor this donor and their family by recovering four organs and providing the gift of life to four people.

We extend our sincere gratitude to Jacque for simultaneously providing excellent medical care, supporting LifeCenter’s team and her team, and championing donation at ANMC. During such difficult times, dedication like hers is what makes the gift of life possible for families and recipients.