UnityPoint Health’s Iowa Methodist Transplant Center completed a record 125 life-saving kidney transplants in 2020, the health system announced. The number of transplants conducted last year was the highest since the program’s inception more than 30 years ago, and double the number of transplants from three years ago. The Iowa Methodist Transplant Center reached another milestone in August 2020 with its 1,000th kidney transplant surgery. “With the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, many transplant programs across the nation struggled,” said Dr. Tamer Malik, a surgeon with the Iowa Methodist Transplant Center. “However, with unwavering determination and innovative teamwork, the UnityPoint Health – Iowa Methodist transplant team was able to rise above this seemingly insurmountable challenge, performing the largest number of kidney transplants since the inception of the program.” According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, 39,035 organ transplants were performed in the United States in 2020.