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The Community Blood Center (CBC) began operation in September 1964 in the basement of the Fidelity Medical Building on South Main Street in Dayton. It was born out of a serious need for a centralized system of blood banking to effectively serve patient blood needs. In 1964, the CBC served two Dayton area hospitals, and by 1965 it had expanded to serving the blood needs of all general hospitals in Dayton. Since 1967, CBC has grown to its present service area of 25 hospitals in 15 counties with a totally volunteer donor base.
In January 1976, the CBC moved to its present facility at 349 South Main Street in downtown Dayton. In February 1971, the first branch location was opened in Springfield, Ohio, to accommodate blood donors for the Springfield area hospitals. Since that time, three additional branches have been established in Middletown, Ohio; Hamilton, Ohio; and Richmond, Indiana. Each day, up to four on-site bloodmobiles are scheduled throughout CBC's service area.
At least 300 pints of whole blood must be collected daily from volunteer donors to sufficiently meet patient transfusion needs. This year that need is projected to reach more than 78,000 units of blood products. All donated blood becomes part of the general blood supply. Each unit of blood is tested, typed and processed by the Dayton CBC laboratory, then distributed daily to the 26 area hospitals.
In November 1986, CBC expanded operations and started the Dayton Regional Tissue Center. In 1994, the name was changed to Community Tissue Services (CTS) and there are now CTS branches in Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Worth, Texas; Portland, Oregon; and Fresno, California, in addition to the Dayton headquarters. Since its beginning, CTS has doubled in size each year, and it now provides tissue for more than 2,000 hospital and physician clients across the nation.
CBC is a 501(c) 3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt corporation. Operating income is derived from the charges made to the hospitals for blood and blood products, transfusions and for patient services and tests, as well as the distribution of tissue to hospitals and physicians.
An all-volunteer Board of Trustees administers CBC/CTS. Of the Board's 28 members, many are associated with CBC's service hospitals. In addition, members of the community who represent the interests of donors, patients, and physicians who use CBC's services provide guidance through both the Board of Trustees and Advisory Groups.
Copyright 2005 Community Blood Center
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