SAN ANTONIO, TX (April 2, 2025) – This year, Texas Organ Sharing Alliance, a nonprofit organ procurement organization (OPO), is marking its 50th anniversary since it was founded in 1975. For the past five decades, TOSA has been providing compassionate care and grief support to families before, during, and after organ donation, while educating the public to help Texans make informed decisions about organ donation. In celebration of its milestone achievements, TOSA created a commemorative anniversary logo to honor its five decades of saving lives through the gift of organ donation.
TOSA was originally incorporated as a nonprofit as “South Texas Organ Bank” on December 10, 1975. The organization was renamed as “Texas Organ Sharing Alliance” to better reflect its broad service area and the facilitation of organ donation and alliances with organizations that make transplantation possible. The nonprofit has made significant strides in organ donation since its incorporation.
In 1977, a Wilford Hall donor provided the first kidney that TOSA facilitated to be transplanted into a local patient at Bexar County Hospital. Then in 1992, a Wilford Hall patient received TOSA’s 1,000th transplantable kidney. Importantly, TOSA is a leading pioneer in the organ procurement organization industry because of President and CEO Joseph Nespral’s vision to enhance organ recovery efforts.
“In my over 28 years of working with TOSA, I’ve seen firsthand how our commitment to improving the organ donation process and educating communities has positively changed people’s lives,” said Joseph Nespral. “Throughout our 50-year history, TOSA has helped facilitate the donation of over 10,000 organs from over 4,800 donors, which improves the lives of organ recipients and offers healing opportunities to donor families.”
To support future enhancements, TOSA welcomes Dr. Philip G. Thomas, MD FACS, as its Medical Director. Dr. Thomas is a distinguished Liver-Biliary-Pancreas and Organ Transplant Surgery Consultant at TOSA. With over four decades of experience, he has played pivotal roles in transplant surgery and clinical education worldwide.
“I’m proud to play a role in supporting the ground-breaking work done at TOSA,” said Dr. Thomas. “As Medical Director, I will focus on educating the public about the importance of organ donation, maintaining collaborative relationships with our hospital partners, and advancing organ recovery efforts. Right now in Texas, more than 10,000 people are waiting for a lifesaving transplant.”
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Texas Organ Sharing Alliance will celebrate its 50th anniversary across its service area throughout 2025 and plans to end the year with a special public announcement. To learn more about TOSA and support their mission of saving lives, visit tosa1.org
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About Texas Organ Sharing Alliance:
Texas Organ Sharing Alliance (TOSA) is a nonprofit organ procurement organization (OPO) established in 1975 to serve the organ donation needs of South and Central Texas – from Waco to the Rio Grande Valley. For 50 years, TOSA has supported more than 7 million people in 56 Central and South Texas counties and works to serve the 10K Texans and 104K people nationwide who are waiting for a life-saving transplant. The nonprofit organization is one of 56 federally designated OPOs in the US that facilitates the donation process according to federal regulations through clinical management of organ donors and assessment of medical suitability. For more information on TOSA or to register as an organ donor, visit tosa1.org.
