When Tiffany Coco enters a patient’s room at the Mayo Clinic Transplant Center in Arizona, her focus goes beyond medical charts. She listens to the unspoken struggles—the fears, the daily challenges, and the emotional weight of transplantation.
“Patients often stay strong for their doctors,” Coco says. “But with us, they open up. They share how transplant truly affects their lives.”
As a licensed clinical social worker, Coco assesses patients’ emotional, social, and psychological needs. She helps them navigate the complex transplant process. Leading a team of 20 social workers, she collaborates with medical staff to support patients and organ donors at every stage—before, during, and after care.
Her dedication is personal.
From Loss to Purpose
At 15, Coco faced a life-changing tragedy: her mother died unexpectedly. Her family made the difficult choice to donate her organs.
“I’ve been on the other side of that conversation,” she says. “One moment, everything was normal. The next, our world shattered. We had to decide in an instant.”
Coco always knew she wanted to help people. Her family’s experience led her to social work. After a Mayo Clinic internship in graduate school, she joined full-time in 2013.
“Transplant is a second chance at life—for patients, families, and communities,” she says. “Every time I see it happen, I’m amazed. Another family gets the chance mine didn’t.”
Guiding Patients Through “Cautious Hope”
Mayo Clinic employs over 480 social workers across its hospitals. They provide therapy, crisis support, and help with housing, childcare, and transportation.
In transplant care, social workers assist with emotional, financial, and logistical challenges. Coco calls it a “journey of cautious hope.” Some patients receive transplants; others don’t.
One of the hardest moments is preparing patients to accept an organ from a deceased donor.
“You’re hit with every emotion at once—excitement, fear, guilt,” Coco explains. She reminds them the donor’s death was unavoidable, and donation is a profound gift.
Her team evaluates patients’ home lives, jobs, and family dynamics—factors that impact recovery. They stay involved for years, sometimes decades, celebrating transplant anniversaries long after surgery.
“If a patient has to choose between medicine and meals, that’s not a life,” Coco says. “We ensure they have a path forward.”
Holding Stories, Honoring Legacies
Coco admires Mayo Clinic’s culture of respect. Staff remember patients as people—not just diagnoses.
“A heart patient isn’t just ‘a heart patient. ’ It’s Mr. John Doe, who wants to walk his daughter down the aisle. Or Miss Jane Doe, dreaming of finishing her degree,” she says. “We hold these stories until patients are ready to carry them again.”
On her arm, Coco wears tattoos of organs she’s encountered in her work—a tribute to her mission and her mother.
“I wish I still had her,” she says. “But her legacy lives on—not just in the lives she saved through donation, but in the patients I help every day.”
“From a lost 15-year-old to a leader guiding others—this is how I honor her.”
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