Texas Organ Sharing Alliance (TOSA) Chief Executive Officer Patrick J. Giordano announced earlier in the year that he will retire in October after leading the organization for nearly 20 years.
Giordano has been responsible and credited with the evolution of the organ procurement organization (OPO) which provides organ donation, recovery, and allocation services for transplant hospitals and patients in Central and South Texas. The organization, formerly known as the South Texas Organ Bank in 1996, was facing heavy scrutiny by the federal government, which requires OPOs to facilitate a required number of donor cases or face closure.
“We needed to assess the situation, define the problems, and make decisions quickly, which led to acquiring needed resources and recruiting the right people,” Giordano recalls. “This all had to be done in a way that would enable us to implement changes in time to impact our results in a positive way.”
Building on his many years of executive experience in hospitals and healthcare systems, Giordano successfully led the rebuilding and the continued development of the organization into what it is today, a company that has been named a Top Employer in San Antonio by San Antonio-Express News.
To his successor and to those he’s guided during his tenure at TOSA, Giordano shares sound advice, “Challenge the status quo, innovate, hire the best people you can and most importantly treat them with respect. Organizations consist of people and people have to keep learning and changing and adapting and then the organization, through an effective internal culture, will operate in a way that will enable sustainable success.”
Many in the donation and transplantation field, including the families of those who were life-saving donors had kind words for Giordano upon news of his retirement.
“Thank you for your service to TOSA and for your help to me and my family. You and your organization mean so much to many of us who have lost a loved one, especially when it is a child. I hope your future is as bright as your past. Godspeed and clear skies for you,” said a donor father who lost his daughter in an accident several years ago.
Giordano, a founding board member for the state’s official registry, Donate Life Texas, hopes more people will make the life-saving decision to sign up as an organ donor. To register, visit www.DonateLifeTexas.org.
Texas Organ Sharing Alliance is one of 58 federally designated Organ Procurement Organizations (OPO) in the United States. Founded in 1975 as a not-for-profit corporation, TOSA covers 56 counties in Central and South Texas. TOSA is committed to providing organ donation and recovery services to families wishing to donate, and to those waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.
