Meet Maegan Boehm, Riley pediatric heart transplant coordinator

Maegan Boehm is a pediatric heart transplant coordinator at Riley Children’s Health. Since 2017, she has helped families navigate the journey from their child getting on the transplant list to life after receiving a new heart. One of those children is Hannah Ginther, who received a new heart at age 3. Hannah is a 2026 Riley Champion, presented by Kroger, and was nominated for the program by Boehm.

“Hannah and her family are very honest in that they’re so thankful for their heart donor and Hannah’s ability to do the things that she’s able to do. I feel like the family does a really good job of kind of allowing Hannah to try different things and do different things.

Hannah’s a little bit of a spitfire. She’s going to give it 110 percent. If she doesn’t like it, she’ll tell you. Seeing her just living and being such a breath of fresh air, she’s just a true champion. Anytime we can nominate a patient who's been through so much and is giving back, I think that's a great opportunity to really allow Riley to shine and our patients to shine.

Our pediatric heart transplant coordinator team, including Alicia Cook and Kelly Orr, knows a lot about what happens with our families. We are kind of the go-to for a lot of our families. There's also a lot of emotional and mental stress and trauma that these families go through. We're talking through those things and helping them get the help that they need.

Every child deserves the best of their team to the fullest of their capabilities. Seeing what these families and children go through is just an incredible journey. They’re trying to figure out how to manage having a child staying inpatient for an unknown amount of time. Any kind of support for these families is always very helpful.

Watching these kids like Hannah grow up and achieve their milestones — whether it's losing their first tooth, making their cheerleading team, playing volleyball, getting their driver's license or graduating high school — it's all these moments you look back on, and you think, ‘Wow. Here you are living your best life.’”