Ten Years and Counting, Honoring a Decade of Partnership with Donor Network West

For a decade, Royal Team Members have played a behind-the-scenes role in organ donation across Northern California. This is the story of how that work happens and why the partnership matters.

The Role of Donor Network West

Most people don’t think about organ donation until life forces them to. Even fewer still realize the intricate web of coordination, care, and compassion that makes donation possible.

That’s where Donor Network West comes in.

They’re the federally designated organ procurement organization (OPO) for northern California and northern Nevada. Hospitals are required to partner with an OPO like Donor Network West to help make organ and tissue donation possible. Their team works with families, coordinates logistics, supports transplant centers, and handles the details most of us never see.

Royal Ambulance’s Vital Role

Royal Ambulance has partnered with Donor Network West for ten years. Our role is simple but critical. When a donor is identified, someone has to make sure that the person gets safely from one location to another.

Sharon Swain Reflects on the Partnership

Sharon Swain, Donor Transfer Program Manager at Donor Network West, has worked with Royal crews for years. She remembers when the partnership first began.“You started with us when you were a much smaller company,” she said. “You were just beginning to do critical care transports. And from the beginning, you treated our work like a priority. That has always stayed with me.”

Sharon’s background is in critical care nursing. She left the bedside to do this work full-time and took a pay cut to do it. What she found was purpose.

“I think people forget that you can still have purpose in death,” she said. “For families, knowing that someone else will live because their loved one donated makes an impossible situation feel just a little more meaningful. That matters.”

Our crews don’t do donor calls for recognition. They do it because they care. And they ask questions. They want to know which organs were placed and how the donor will help someone else.

“It’s not just a shift for them,” Sharon said. “It’s something they take seriously. You can tell.”

Josini Machathil, RN, Royal’s CCT Manager, sees that mindset every day.

“Our teams understand the weight of these calls. There’s a different kind of focus when you’re transporting a donor. It’s not just about the clinical side. It’s about being present, being respectful, and knowing that you’re part of something bigger than yourself.”

JohnRey Hassan, RN our Chief Administrative Officer and in-house counsel, has worked as a critical care transport nurse himself. He sees that same sense of purpose in our crews.

“This is sacred work. It demands clinical skill, but it also calls for empathy and humility. I’ve been on those transports. I know what it feels like. And I’m proud of how our teams carry that responsibility.”

For many team members at Royal, donor calls are the first time they see this side of healthcare. It’s a quiet responsibility. But one that stays with you.

Hasieb Lemar, our President, sees the impact of the partnership from both a clinical and leadership lens.

“It reflects who we are. When someone trusts us with their loved one’s final act of care, we show up with everything we’ve got. Donor Network West has been an incredible partner, and we’re proud to play a small role in such meaningful work.”

Reflecting on Donate Life Month

This month is Donate Life Month. It’s a chance to reflect on what this work means.

We’re proud to support Donor Network West. And grateful for the years of trust and partnership.

To the donors and families who say yes.

To the clinicians who make it possible.

To the people behind the scenes doing the work every day.

Thank you!