Texas Organ Procurement Organizations

By federal law, non-profit organ procurement organizations (OPOs) are the only organizations that can perform the life-saving mission of recovering organs from deceased donors for transplantation.  Because Texas is so large, the state is served by three OPOs:  LifeGift, Southwest Transplant Alliance and Texas Organ Sharing Alliance.

The staff of these organizations are the caring and compassionate people who give hope to those facing devastating loss through the option of donation.  They work in hospitals to guide grieving families through the organ donation process and provide the clinical services needed to recover, prepare and transport organs to those awaiting a life-saving transplant.

OPOs are also active members of the donation community committed to educating the public about the need for donation and the importance of donor registration.  Because facilities in each county are served exclusively by one OPO, these organizations often collaborate on community outreach programs.

All three OPOs are founding members of the Donate Life Texas organ, eye and tissue donor registry.

LifeGift 1-800-633-6562 Corporate Headquarters:  2510 Westridge, Houston, TX 77054 Regional Offices:  Amarillo, Fort Worth and Lubbock Service Area:  counties shown in blue Founded in 1987, LifeGift is a nonprofit organization that offers hope to individuals needing organ, eye and tissue transplants in 109 Texas counties in the Houston area, North Texas and West Texas.
Southwest Transplant Alliance 1-800-788-8058 Corporate Headquarters:  8190 Manderville Ln, Dallas, TX 75231 Regional Offices:  Bryan / College Station, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Midland / Odessa, Temple and Tyler Service Area:  counties shown in green For over 40 years, Southwest Transplant Alliance (STA) has been saving lives by recovering donated organs for those waiting on transplants. Founded in 1974, STA is among the largest of 57 federally designated, nonprofit organ procurement organizations in the U.S.
Texas Organ Sharing Alliance 1-866-685-0277 Corporate Headquarters:  5051 Hamilton Wolf Road, San Antonio, TX 78229 Regional Offices:  Austin, McAllen Service Area: counties shown in yellow Texas Organ Sharing Alliance (TOSA), founded in 1975, is one of 57 federally-designated Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) in the United States. TOSA is committed to a mission of saving lives through the power of organ donation by providing organ donation and recovery services to Central and South Texans wishing to donate, and to those waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.

OPOs are regulated under the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration. OPOs are certified and accredited through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and the Association for Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO) which require regular inspections of operations and management.