Staff Spotlight: Patrick Vestal

Patrick Vestal, Donor Alliance Systems Administrator

We’re so proud to work with each and every one of our staff members here at Donor Alliance. In our Staff Spotlight, we like to take a minute to let you learn more about who we are and why we work at Donor Alliance. Patrick Vestal, a Donor Alliance Systems Administrator, is responsible for making sure that all of the mission-critical information systems we use to carry out our mission are online and available 24×7, 365.! Patrick says his favorite thing about working at Donor Alliance is the people and the passion they have for the mission!

Name: Patrick Vestal

Position: Systems Administrator

Years at Donor Alliance: 1 year

Tell us a little about your role with Donor Alliance: As a Systems Administrator, my role is to insure that all of the mission-critical information systems we use to carry out our mission are online and available 24×7, 365. To that end, I make sure we have real-time monitoring of those systems, and that we have near-real-time backups of critical data and the means to recover that data quickly should the need arise.

What is the best thing about working at Donor Alliance? The people. I have worked for a variety of different organizations over my career, many of them in health care with similar life-saving goals. However I have yet to meet another group of people more passionate and dedicated to their mission as my colleagues at Donor Alliance.

What does donation & transplantation mean to you? I think there is an interesting dichotomy that exists within the donation and transplantation process. On one hand, the organs and tissues provided by gracious donors mean that the recipients and their loved ones will receive the gift of a prolonged life. But that joy that the recipients and their families experience is only possible because there is a donor family grieving the loss of a loved one. This is something I keep in mind every day I come to work at Donor Alliance.

When you’re not working, what do you like to do for fun? I am an avid aviation buff. I enjoy building and flying large-scale radio controlled helicopters. During the spring and summer months, you can usually find me at the R/C flying fields at Chatfield or Cherry Creek State Parks. During the winter months when the weather becomes less agreeable to outdoor activities, I am at home flying jets and helicopters in an advanced computer flight simulator with my “virtual squadron” buddies online. Many of these friends are real-world military or airline pilots from all over the world.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? It may not be advice, but this quote has helped me countless times throughout my life: “This too shall pass.” I can remember my mom telling me that from a very early age. It didn’t make much sense when I was younger, but I never forgot it. No matter how tough life gets or how bad things seem in the moment, these challenges or heartache are merely temporary setbacks. You can and will persevere.