Donate Life Month in April is time to celebrate the precious gift of organ donation and honor organ donors and their families
(PRUnderground) April 22nd, 2026
The United States recognizes National Donate Life Month each April to bring attention to organ, eye, bone marrow, and tissue donation and transplantation. It is a time to honor and recognize those who have saved lives through the gift of organ donation. It is only through the generosity of donor families and donors saving lives through organ transplantation is possible.
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.
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.
In Utah, more than 900 people are on that waiting list.
For the first time in Utah medical history, a Utah transplant program successfully performed more than 500 organ transplants in a single year, saving hundreds of lives and achieving a new medical milestone for organ transplantation in the Beehive State.
The Intermountain Health Transplant Program at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah performed 515 organ transplants last year, shattering their previous record of 489 transplants performed in 2024, and surpassing the 500-transplant milestone for the first time in Utah history.
This 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 thanks to this increase in organ transplants.
Why donation is so important: One organ donor can save up to eight lives.
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.
This is the sixth consecutive year that the Intermountain Health Transplant Program has performed a record-breaking number of adult transplants.
These transplants profoundly impacted and transformed the lives of hundreds, thanks to short wait times and utilization of new technology.
In fact, Intermountain Health’s kidney transplant program has one of the shortest wait-times in the nation, averaging just 109 days 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 save thousands of lives each year. Living donors will donate a portion of their liver, which will then grow back or one of their kidneys.
Since the body can perform with just one kidney, it is the most transplanted organ from a living donor. It’s also the best option for people who need a new kidney. It’s safe, and donors don’t have to be related to the recipient.
Five key benefits for participating in a living donor transplant include:
- 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.
- Living donor kidneys tend to have greater longevity than those transplanted from a deceased donor.
- Surgery can be scheduled in advance.
- Patients can get a living donor kidney transplant before starting dialysis.
- Patients spending less time on dialysis means better health.
“On average, a living kidney transplant doubles the life expectancy of the recipient,” said Donald Morris, MD, nephrologist and Intermountain Health’s kidney transplant medical director. “It also greatly improves the quality of life while decreasing their overall health costs.”
National Kidney Registry
Intermountain’s Transplant Services at Intermountain Medical Center participates in a national registry that helps get the best optimally matched organ donors and recipients across the nation.
The National Kidney Registry (NKR) 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.
Donate a Kidney or a Liver – Save a Live
To sign up to become a living 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.
About Intermountain Health
Headquartered in Utah with locations in six states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a nonprofit system of 34 hospitals, approximately 400 clinics, medical groups with some 4,600 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a nonprofit health plan 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://news.intermountainhealth.org/. For more information, see intermountainhealth.org/ or call 801-442-2000.
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Original Press Release.
