Mission Statement

Intermountain Donor Services (IDS) is a federally designated nonprofit community service organization dedicated to the recovery and transplantation of organs and tissues. IDS serves Utah, southeastern Idaho, and western Wyoming, encompassing 2.7 million residents, 79 hospitals, and three transplant centers. IDS performs its procurement role, combined with community awareness and education, with the following goals in mind: to provide high quality organ and tissue procurement services to the medical and public communities we serve; to educate medical professionals and the public sector on the benefits of organ and tissue donation in order to provide, in a sensitive manner, the option of donation to all individuals; and to provide an organizational environment that attracts, retains, and motivates qualified employees who are dedicated to our mission, vision, and values.

History of Intermountain Donor Services

Recovery of organs for transplantation in the intermountain area had its beginnings at the University of Utah Medical Center to meet the needs of early renal transplant efforts. Early donations were coordinated either directly by the transplant surgeons or by nursing staff inducted to provide this service. As time went on, procurement coordination was performed by the transplant coordinators who were caring for the recipients. Since then, organ procurement has grown from a single hospital’s efforts to provide its own source of transplantable organs to an independent agency that provides procurement services to three transplant centers in Salt Lake City.

Several factors led to growth and changes in organ procurement in the region. The first was the initiation of transplant programs at other facilities in the area. The beginning of LDS Hospital’s kidney and liver transplant program in 1984 led to the formation of a procurement office there. The formation of U.T.A.H. (Utah Transplant Affiliated Hospitals) Cardiac Transplant Program in 1985 extended the availability of heart transplantation to recipients at LDS Hospital, University of Utah Medical Center, Primary Children’s Medical Center, and Veteran’s Administration Medical Center. With more transplant centers and an increasing volume of transplants being performed, greater cooperation and integration of procurement services became necessary. Separate offices were maintained at LDS Hospital and the University Medical Center, with integrated educational and procurement responsibilities.

Federal legislative changes in 1986 regarding the structure and function of organ procurement organizations (OPOs) stipulated that only one OPO could function within a given population and geographical area. Because of these changes, it was decided to form an independent organ procurement organization to be located outside the transplant center.

In November of 1987, Intermountain Organ Recovery System (IORS) was formed as that agency. In 1995, IDS became a full tissue recovery agency, recovering bone, skin, heart valves, and saphenous vein. These tissues are processed by other tissue agencies, but are returned to the local community and utilized by hundreds of hospitals and physicians throughout the intermountain region.

In 2001, Intermountain Organ Recovery System changed its name to Intermountain Donor Services to more accurately reflect the services it provided.

Because of its highly trained professional staff, IDS has established itself as one of the most efficient OPOs in the U.S. IDS looks forward to continuing this tradition of serving the residents of the intermountain region.

In 2003, IDS took responsibility for coordinating the screening of all non-directed living kidney donors for all transplant programs in Utah. As of 2010, over 50 non-directed living kidney donors have been facilitated.

Through active participation in a national collaborative, IDS has established itself as one of the most effective and efficient OPOs in the U.S.