Transplant
If facing end-stage organ failure, a kidney, pancreas, liver, lung, intestine or heart transplant will help you embrace life again.
Matthew Siregar is a manager of clinical operations for the transplant unit. Here’s more about him.
By TJ Banes, IU Health Senior Journalist, tfender1@iuhealth.org
Matthew Siregar joined IU Health in 2015 working in the Medical Progressive Care unit of Methodist Hospital. He transferred to the Cardiovascular Critical Care Unit and then moved to the Transplant Unit.
Growing up in South Florida, Siregar was born in Miami but moved to Stuart , Fla. when he was a toddler.
“My father immigrated to the United States from Indonesia after he met my mother on a cruise ship. She was a passenger and he was a wine steward,” said Siregar, His mother worked her way up to director of operations for a large physician office in Florida and his father worked maintenance at a hospital in West Palm Beach.
After high school, Siregar initially thought about becoming a commercial airline pilot. In different ways, both of his parents influenced his decision to go into the medical field. His father was diagnosed with brain cancer the summer after his high school graduation and Siregar stayed at home helping his family.
“My father did pass away a year after his diagnosis and going through that experience ignited my passion for the nursing profession,” said Siregar. He attended nursing school at Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA. and received his master’s degree from UIndy. He is currently working on his PhD in nursing where his research is focused on improving outcomes in immigrant patient populations.
“One of the things that really impacted me when I was going through the experience with my father, was he was lucky that he was married to someone born in America who could navigate our healthcare system,” said Siregar. “I truly believe that he would have had a very different experience had he not had my mother and I believe that all patients should have access to high quality health care regardless of race, ethnicity, language, gender, or immigration status.”
In his role with IU Health, Siregar said: “I am very passionate about the field of nursing and want what is best for my team and our patients. I love the ability to work with our team to solve problems and watch as we see the fruits of our hard work; meeting milestones that we thought were not possible. We have really hard jobs that take a toll on us physically, emotionally, and mentally - my hope and goal in this job is to advocate for our team, support them, and help them grow and develop so that they are able to provide the best possible care to our patients.”
Siregar met his husband while living in Virginia. They have two dogs and enjoy traveling as much as possible. And about that dream of becoming a commercial pilot - Siregar attended Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and flew 4-seater Cessna airplanes for a few years.
If facing end-stage organ failure, a kidney, pancreas, liver, lung, intestine or heart transplant will help you embrace life again.
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