Each April, the United States recognizes National Donate Life Month, bringing attention to 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. 
 

Cada mes de abril, se celebra en los Estados Unidos el Mes nacional de la donación en vida. Durante este mes, se resalta la importancia de la donación y el trasplante de órganos, ojos, médula ósea y tejidos.

Intermountain Health se une a otros sistemas de salud y programas de trasplante de todo el país para celebrar el Mes de la donación en vida, un mes dedicado a la concientización acerca de la gran necesidad de donantes de órganos y el reconocimiento de aquellos individuos altruistas que han dado a otros el regalo de la vida.

"El Mes de la donación en vida es un buen momento para compartir su decisión de convertirse en donante con su familia, tildar la opción de donante de órganos cuando renueve su licencia de conducir y para considerar el impacto que puede tener compartir un órgano vivo a través del trasplante", comentó Alan Conteras, doctor y cirujano de trasplantes de Intermountain Health. "La donación de órganos no solo genera un impacto en la vida de quienes la reciben, sino que también afecta de forma positiva a sus familias y comunidades".

De hecho, los trasplantes de órganos salvan alrededor de 28,000 (veintiocho mil) vidas por año y cada donante tiene la capacidad de salvar hasta ocho vidas.

En el país, 100,000 (cien mil) personas están actualmente en la lista de trasplantes, a la espera de un riñón, hígado, páncreas, corazón o pulmón. Cada nueve minutos se añade alguien más a la lista de espera y cada día mueren 13 personas que esperan un trasplante.

En Utah,más de 900 personas se encuentran en lista de espera.

Intermountain Health es un proveedor líder de trasplantes de órganos en la región montañosa occidental, ya que brinda trasplantes de corazón, riñón, hígado, páncreas y médula ósea a personas que lo necesitan en toda la región.

"La generosidad de nuestra comunidad ha sido fundamental para salvar cientos de vidas", explicó el doctor Contreras. "Su disposición a decir que sí a la donación de órganos ha sido clave para nuestro éxito".

El programa de trasplantes para adultos de Intermountain Health, con base en el Intermountain Medical Center de Murray, ha realizado 489 trasplantes de órganos en 2024 (189 trasplantes de hígado, 267 trasplantes de riñón, 29 trasplantes de corazón y 4 trasplantes de riñón/páncreas). Esto representa un crecimiento de más del 200 % en comparación con los últimos cinco años y, con ello, el doble de vidas que se han salvado en la región montañosa occidental.

Estos trasplantes de órganos impactaron y transformaron profundamente la vida de cientos de personas gracias a sus tiempos de espera cortos y al uso de nuevas tecnologías, que los hacen más accesibles para aquellos que necesitan un órgano, incluso si viven a cientos de kilómetros de distancia.

De hecho, el programa de trasplantes de riñón de Intermountain Health tiene uno de los tiempos de espera más cortos de todo el país, con un promedio de solo tres meses a un año desde que la persona entra activamente a la lista hasta que recibe el trasplante, en comparación con muchos otros programas en el país que tienen tiempos de espera entre 3 y 5 años.

El programa de trasplantes de hígado de Intermountain también cuenta con uno de los tiempos de espera más cortos del país, con una espera promedio de 22 días desde que el paciente entra a la lista y recibe su trasplante.

Intermountain realiza trasplantes de riñón y de hígado de donantes en vida a pacientes, lo que ayuda a reducir el tiempo que las personas pasan esperando por un órgano.

Donación en vida

Las donaciones en vida salvan miles de vidas cada año. Se llama donación en vida al proceso mediante el cual una persona viva dona un órgano o una parte de él a una persona que necesita un trasplante.

La donación de riñón en vida es posible, ya que las personas pueden vivir una vida saludable con un solo riñón en funcionamiento.

La donación de hígado en vida es posible debido a que el hígado consta de dos lóbulos, uno de los cuales puede donarse a alguien que lo necesite. Ambos lóbulos se regeneran hasta alcanzar su tamaño y función normales luego de 6 a 12 semanas.

"Cada trasplante de donante vivo que se realiza quita a una persona de la lista de espera de trasplantes y asegura que la persona que le sigue en la lista no tenga que esperar tanto tiempo para un trasplante de donante fallecido", declaró Donald Morris, doctor, nefrólogo y director médico de trasplantes de riñón en Intermountain Health. "Los riñones de donantes vivos también suelen tener una mayor longevidad que aquellos trasplantados de donantes fallecidos, lo que mejora enormemente la calidad de vida de quienes los reciben".

National Kidney Registry

Los Servicios de trasplantes de Intermountain en el Intermountain Medical Center participan junto al National Kidney Registry en el programa Kidney for Life, que ayuda a conseguir los mejores donantes y receptores de órganos compatibles de todo el país.

El programa Kidney for Life es un programa único de intercambio de donantes de órganos a nivel nacional que facilita los intercambios emparejados, un proceso mediante el cual un donante de órgano dona su riñón a un receptor que no sea un ser querido a cambio de un riñón compatible para un amigo o ser querido.

En 2024, se pudieron realizar más de 7000 trasplantes gracias a la donación en vida.

"Los donantes vivos son verdaderos héroes", exclamó JoAnna Stephens, directora de trasplantes para adultos en Intermountain Health. "Celebramos y honramos a estos héroes por su increíble generosidad, sus actos de bondad desinteresados y sus contribuciones que salvan vidas".

Conviértase en donante vivo de órganos, salve una vida

Para registrarse y convertirse en un donante vivo de órganos diríjase a: www.IntermountainHealthcare.org/DonateLife

No olvide compartir con su familia su decisión de dar el regalo de la vida. Y no olvide tildar la opción de donante de órganos cuando renueve su licencia de conducir o dirigirse a la página web de Yes Utah! para registrarse hoy mismo.

###

WHAT:

April is National Donate Life Month and Intermountain Health has teamed up with UNLV Athletics to bring much-needed attention to organ donation and raise awareness at Tuesday’s UNLV baseball game.  

As part of this celebration, the first pitch of Friday’s home game will be thrown by Tanisha Ellerbe, 50, from Las Vegas. She is a robotics and cyber security teacher at Liberty High School in Henderson.

She loves her job, her family, and traveling. But for years, she was living with a chronic kidney disease that threatened to take away everything she cherished. 

Her miracle came in the form of a living donor from Utah who was also a complete stranger. She did not know Tanisha, but she wanted to help someone in need. On August 15, Tanisha underwent a successful kidney transplant surgery and has a new lease on life and continuing her teaching.

Intermountain Health, the official health partner of UNLV Athletics, will be at the game to honor Donate Life month and recognize those who have saved lives through the gift of organ donation.

It is only through the generosity of donor families and donors that makes saving lives through organ transplantation possible. Across the country, 104,000 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 Nevada, 667 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. Learn more at intermountainhealthcare.org/donatelife.

WHEN:

5:30 pm, Tuesday, April 9, 2024

First pitch is scheduled for 5:50 pm, media should arrive 30 minutes before

UNLV Hustlin’ Rebels vs Utah Tech

WHERE: 

UNLV – Earl E. Wilson Stadium
4350 S University Center Dr,  Las Vegas, NV

###

As part of this celebration, the ceremonial first pitch of the April 21 UNLV home baseball game at Earl E. Wilson Stadium in Las Vegas between the Hustlin’ Rebels and California Baptist Lancers was thrown by Christina Martinez, an organ donor who not only changed a life, but saved the life of a friend and colleague, Raquita Elmore.

On July 28, 2021, Christina arrived at Intermountain Medical Center with a shirt saying, “It’s a great day to save lives.” That day, she donated one of her kidneys to Raquita, whose kidneys were failing. Her gift made it possible for Raquita to be healthy and have the energy to do the things she loves.

Intermountain Health, the official health partner of UNLV Athletics, at the game encouraged people to register to become an organ donor and urged fans to discuss these plans with their families. Representatives from Nevada Donor Network shared information on how to become an organ donor.

In Nevada, 639 people are on the national waiting list for a life-saving organ.

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. Learn more at intermountainhealthcare.org/donatelife.