Dr. Raynetta Stansil, DHA, MHA, ST, CRCST, CIS, CER, CHL, SME
Director of Sterile Processing-Surgical Services, University of Illinois Chicago
By Matt Skoufalos
In a health care career marked by consistent achievement, multiple advanced degrees and professional certificates distinguish Raynetta Stansil’s commitment to education as a path to success.
But years before she would go on to earn her doctorate in healthcare administration, Stansil was set upon an educational pathway in surgical technology at Olympia College in Merrillville, Indiana. She had intended to pursue a career in law, but was redirected by her mother, who, while working as a qualified medication aide, suggested that Stansil might enjoy a career as a surgical technologist.
In 2008, Stansil joined Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, where she would remain for a little less than a decade, as a certified surgical technologist. There, she worked with a renowned surgical team, assisting on complex procedures that were uncommon to find in a community hospital.
“Surgery is exciting,” Stansil said. “I loved it there, which is why I stayed close to nine years. I thought I was going to retire there.”
Despite the talent of the surgical team and the best available resources, not every patient survives the procedure they undergo. After one such sad circumstance, representatives from Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network arrived to recover organs and tissue from the body. Even for Stansil, who worked in the operating room daily, witnessing the organ recovery process was a departure from the norm.
“You don’t see that,” she said. “You’re not removing something in surgery, and not replacing it.”
The feeling stuck with her, and down the line, when a former coworker from Lurie told Stansil that she’d gone to work with Gift of Hope, Stansil thought to follow suit. That choice led to her taking a position that was simultaneously the most labor-intensive job she’d ever had, and the one whereby she learned the most about the body.
“Some of the things I learned is what diseases the individual can and can’t have before donating,” Stansil said. “You have to look at the medical record, strategically match with what this donor can give and cannot give, and you cannot make a mistake. It’s a very detailed job. You’re a very much underpaid surgeon.”
The days were long, sometimes more than 12 hours, including preparing bodies both pre-surgically and surgically. The work was physically demanding, and time-sensitive, with removal teams on a rapid response call to nursing homes, funeral homes, coroner’s offices and hospitals as needed. The highest aim of their efforts was precision, such that the organs and tissues removed could be grafted successfully into the bodies of their recipients. Stansil would work three days one week, and four the next, alternately; on those extra days off, she was “in the house, stuck to the couch or the bed,” recovering from the effort.
While working for Gift of Hope, Stansil was recruited by a company called Surgical Solutions, for which she worked as a clinical educator. She traveled in support of their accounts at 30 hospitals in eight different states, training staff onsite, and then moving on to the next facility.
“They offer OR and sterile processing staff members to assist with surgery, setting up the room with a surgical tech, or going to sterile processing, where they clean and sterilize instruments,” Stansil said.
She enjoyed the work, but traveling three days a week was difficult with school-aged children. In 2020, Stansil found an opportunity as a sterile processing manager at Methodist Hospital, which was mere minutes from her home, while also working part-time with Surgical Solutions. She remembers being interviewed remotely for the position during the onset of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and being hired literally sight unseen. In 2021, Stansil went full-time at Methodist Hospital, where she worked until January 2024, when she took her most recent position as the director of sterile processing for surgical services at the University of Illinois Chicago.
“That’s my new adventure there,” she said. “I love it there. It’s still new; I’m still learning the facility, but it’s a good experience.”
While at Lurie, Stansil had continued her education, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration. She worked three years of night shifts to complete it, coming home in the early-morning hours to do homework after she was done working. After transitioning to Gift of Hope, Stansil returned to school to pursue her master’s degree in health administration at Ohio University, thinking she might someday become the manager of a nursing home. Earning that degree motivated her to pursue a doctorate in health administration, which she completed in the summer of 2024, graduating from Virginia University of Lynchburg.
“I said, ‘I’m going to be a CEO of a hospital or a center,’ and that was my motivation to go get my doctorate,” Stansil said. “That’s still my goal ultimately. I started getting different opportunities, so I never got to where I ‘wanted’ to go because different things opened up.”
Stansil remains a fervent advocate of continuing education. Having completed her doctorate at 42, she proudly proclaims that “It’s never too late to go back to school,” while also emphasizing the value of establishing a firm support system around the effort.
“If I was to go back at 50 or 60, I think I would still have the drive to do that, and I think others should have that drive as well,” Stansil said. “My main support is my husband, Joseph, and the friends and family who understood [what I was pursuing], because they definitely got neglected. Work-life balance, now I appreciate it more.”
In her off-hours, Stansil works as a healthcare consultant for the Gerson Lehrman Group of Chicago; she also owns a moving, hauling, and junk removal company, Stansil and Sons, which she established with Joseph in September 2021. She enjoys travel, spending time with family, horror movies and documentaries, and, until she’s fully recovered from her DHA program — catching up on sleep.
Professional Spotlight Nomination
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