Community Blood Center/ Community Tissue Services

Community Blood Center/Community Tissue Services operates solely to fulfill the need for blood, allograft tissue and specialized laboratory services to patients. As a not-for-profit, 501c(3) organization, CBC/CTS delivers the confidence and tradition of 40 years of service to those hospitals it serves.

Both the American Association of Blood Banks and the American Association of Tissue Banks accredit CBC/CTS. Also, CBC is a member of America's Blood Centers, a national network of non-profit, local, independent community blood centers that collect about half (47 percent) of the U.S. blood supply.

The Community Blood Center (CBC) began operation in September 1964 in the basement of the Fidelity Medical Building on South Main Street in Dayton, Ohio. It was born out of a serious need for a centralized system of blood banking to effectively serve patient blood needs. In 1964, 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 February 1971, the first branch location was opened in Springfield, Ohio, to accommodate blood donors for the Springfield area. In January 1976, the CBC moved to its present facility at 349 South Main Street in downtown Dayton. Since that time, three additional branches have been established in Middletown, Ohio; West Chester, Ohio; and Richmond, Indiana. Each day, up to five on-site bloodmobiles are scheduled throughout CBC's service area.

At least 335 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 87,000 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, and then distributed daily to the 25 area hospitals.

In November 1986, CBC expanded operations and started the Dayton Regional Tissue Bank. In 1994, the name was changed to Community Tissue Services (CTS) and there are now locations in: Fort Worth, Texas; Fresno, California; Portland, Oregon; Medford, Oregon; Boise, Idaho; Indianapolis, Indiana; Connersville, Indiana; Toledo, Ohio; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Memphis, Tennessee; in addition to the Dayton headquarters. CTS provides tissue for more than 2,000 hospital and physician clients across the nation.