Staff In Memoriam: Jaime Rivas

Jaime Rivas, platelet coordinator for the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center, died at age 59 after a sudden illness Oct. 16 while on vacation in Costa Rica. As an employee with more than 25 years of service at UCLA, Rivas developed longtime relationships with many of the donors.

 

"Jaime was a passionate patient and donor advocate, and he represented the heart and soul of our division," said Linda Goss, recruitment supervisor of the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center.

 

In a profile that appeared last April in an employee newsletter, Rivas talked about what he found most rewarding about his job. "I enjoy interacting with our donors, and I am humbled by their commitment to donate so that others can benefit," he said. "In my position, I have a chance to build relationships with the donors and recipients, and consider many of them my friends."

 

Rivas came to UCLA 25 years ago after serving in the military for 10 years. He left the Dwight David Eisenhower Medical Center Clinical Labs in Fort Gordon, Ga., to become the coordinator of what was then the Clinical Lab Blood Bank in the Center for Health Sciences. After supervising blood bank lab assistants for several years, he took over as coordinator of the new platelet center that was located on the A level of UCLA Medical Center. He is survived by his mother and stepfather, Margarita and Charles Johnson, and a sister, Lisa Contrera. Funeral services will be held Thursday, Oct. 29, at 10 a.m. at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, 5101 Alton Parkway in Irvine.