Intermountain Health Highlights the Importance of Organ Donors

The United States recognizes National Donate Life Month in April by bringing attention to the miracle of organ, eye, bone marrow and tissue donation and transplantation.

Intermountain Health is joining other health systems and transplant programs across the country in celebrating Donate Life Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about the critical need for organ donors and honoring the selfless individuals who have given the gift of life.

“Donate Life Month is a good time to share with your family your decision to be a donor, check the organ donor box when you renew your driver’s license, and consider the healing gift of sharing a living organ through the gift of transplantation,” said Brian Cook, MD, Intermountain Health transplant surgeon. “The impact of organ donation extends far beyond the recipients, positively affecting their families and their communities.”

In fact, organ transplantation saves over 28,000 lives each year and every donor has the potential to save up to eight lives.

Across the country, 100,000 people are currently on the transplant list, waiting for a kidney, liver, pancreas, heart or lungs. Every nine minutes another person is added to the wait list and every day 13 people die waiting for a transplant.

In Utah, more than 900 people are on that waiting list.

Intermountain Health is a premier organ transplant provider in the Intermountain West, providing heart, kidney, liver, pancreas and bone marrow transplants to people in need across the region.

“The generosity of our community has been instrumental in saving hundreds of lives,” said Dr. Cook. “Their willingness to say, ‘Yes,’ to organ donation has been a cornerstone of our success.”

The Intermountain Health Adult Transplant program, based at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, transplanted 489 organs in 2024 – 189 liver, 267 kidney, 29 heart, and 4 kidney/pancreas. This is a growth of over 200% over the last five years and with this more than twice as many lives in the Mountain West have been saved.

These organ transplants profoundly impacted and transformed the lives of hundreds, thanks to short wait times and utilization of new technology, which allows for greater access for those in need of an organ, even those living hundreds of miles away.

In fact, Intermountain Health’s kidney transplant program has one of the shortest wait-times in the nation, averaging just three months to a year from active listing to transplant, compared to many other programs in the country that have wait times that average 3-5 years.

Intermountain’s liver transplant program also boasts one of the shortest wait times in the nation, with a median wait time to transplant after listing of 22 days.

Intermountain performs living kidney and liver donor transplants to patients, helping reduce the amount of time they spend waiting for an organ.

Living Donation

Living donations saves thousands of lives each year. Living donation is when a living person donates an organ or part of an organ to a person in need of a transplant.

Living kidney donation is possible because people can live a healthy life with one functioning kidney.

Living liver donation is possible because the liver consists of two lobes, one of which can be donated to someone in need. Both lobes will regenerate to normal size and function generally within 6-12 weeks.

“Every living donor transplant that occurs removes one person from the transplant waiting list and ensures that the next person on the list won’t have to wait as long for a deceased donor transplant, said Donald Morris, MD, nephrologist and Intermountain Health’s kidney transplant medical director. “Living donor kidneys also tend to have greater longevity than those transplanted from a deceased donor – greatly improving the recipient’s quality of life.”

National Kidney Registry

Intermountain’s Transplant Services at Intermountain Medical Center participates in the Kidney for Life program with the National Kidney Registry, which helps get the best optimally matched organ donors and recipients across the nation.

The Kidney for Life program is a unique nationwide organ donor exchange program that facilitates paired exchanges, a process in which an organ donor donates their kidney to a recipient other than their loved one in exchange for a compatible kidney for their friend or loved one.

In 2024, more than 7,000 transplant were made possible by living donation.

“Living donors are true heroes,” said JoAnna Stephens, Intermountain Health adult transplant director. “We celebrate and honor these heroes for their incredible generosity, selfless acts of kindness, and life-saving contributions.”

Become a Live Organ Donor – Save a Live

To sign up to become a living organ donor go to: www.IntermountainHealthcare.org/DonateLife

Don’t forget to share with your family your decision to share the gift of life. And don’t forget to check the organ donation box when you renew your license or go to the Yes Utah! website to register today.

NOTE TO MEDIA: Images and video available upon request.

About Intermountain Health

Headquartered in Utah with locations in six states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a not-for-profit system of 34 hospitals, approximately 400 clinics, medical groups with some 4,600 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For up-to-date information and announcements, please see the Intermountain Health newsroom at https://intermountainhealthcare.org/news.