Feb 9, 2021 Assistant Vice President at Saint Barnabas Medical Center Elected to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) Board of Directors

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) announced that Andrea Tietjen, CPA, MBA, Assistant Vice President of Transplant Administrative Services, Saint Barnabas Medical Center (SBMC), was elected to its Board of Directors, as the at-large transplant administrator representative, starting in July 2021 for a two-year term. As a Board member, Ms. Tietjen will help to establish and oversee UNOS and Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) policies and participate in the development, prioritization, and implementation of projects intended to further UNOS/OPTN strategic goals.

“Andrea’s service on the UNOS Board of Directors is an incredible honor for her and Saint Barnabas Medical Center,” says Francis L. Weng, MD, MSCE, Chief of the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division, SBMC. “Her election is likely a direct result of her outstanding reputation in the transplant community. This reputation has been forged by her numerous presentations at national conferences and her cheerful willingness to share her expertise with the many transplant centers that contact us for advice and assistance.”

A member of the transplant team at Saint Barnabas Medical Center since 1999, Ms. Tietjen is responsible for the integration, supervision and oversight of all data, quality and financial operations. In addition to a Bachelor of Arts from Douglass College, a Bachelor of Science from Upsala College, and a Master of Business Administration from Regis University, she earned a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt from Purdue University and has been a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of New Jersey since 1996.

Ms. Tietjen has been very active in the national transplant community for many years and has participated in many projects and committees. She currently serves on the UNOS Kidney Paired Donation Financial Sub-committee, the American Foundation for Donation and Transplantation (AFDT) Living Donor Education Planning Committee, the UNOS Fiscal Impact Committee, and is on the American Society of Transplantation (AST) Living Donor Community of Practice (COP) Finance Workgroup. She is also presently a UNOS Transplant Administrators Committee (TAC) Member, Co-Chair of the AST Transplant Administration and Quality Management Community of Practice and serves as both Treasurer and Committee Member on the RWJBarnabas Health Woman’s Leadership Alliance.

Ms. Tietjen has also authored numerous articles and publications on transplant operations, finances and billing, serves as content expert for several speaker bureaus and is a frequent presenter at national conferences and meetings. Among the many awards and honors received by Ms. Tietjen are National Kidney Registry Terasaki Medical Innovation Award; Top Abstract at two separate UNOS Management Forums; two-time honor of “Best White Paper” at HKS, Omaha, NE; and “Top Hospital Abstract” at North American Transplant Coordinators Organization (NATCO), Washington, DC. Lastly, she has been an adjunct professor at Caldwell University since 2002 and teaches Accounting, Finance and Healthcare Administration in the School of Business.

To learn more about the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, visit www.transplantkidney.org or call 1-888-409-4707.