Blood Centers of the Pacific was a community-based,

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

blood center collecting blood

donations A donation is a gift for charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, services, or goods such as clothing, toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provid ...

and provides safe

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...

and blood components for transfusion and also related services to more than 40 hospitals in the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

and

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

. Its predecessors included the first blood bank in the United States, which through expansions grew in the San Francisco and Sacramento areas. The Blood Centers of the Pacific name was retired in 2018 when parent Blood Systems, Inc., unified all of its regional operations under the

Vitalant Vitalant (formerly Blood Systems Inc.) is a nonprofit organization that collects blood from volunteer donors and provides blood, blood products and services across the United States. It was founded in 1943 as the Salt River Valley Blood Bank in ...

name. __TOC__

History

On June 17, 1941, the Irwin Memorial Blood Bank opened its doors in response to the lack of a sufficient method of obtaining and storing

for later use – by both the military and community hospitals in the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

area. The aim was to ensure that patients in the

would never again be without an adequate supply of blood. Irwin Memorial Blood Bank is credited as the first community

blood bank A blood bank is a center where blood gathered as a result of blood donation is stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a department of a hospital usually within a Clinical Pathology laborat ...

in the United States. The San Francisco County Medical Society granted the fledgling blood bank permission to operate out of the basement floor of an old San Francisco home, the Irwin Mansion. However, after years of growth, the blood bank had expanded its blood collection operations throughout

, and it soon became clear that a bigger facility was needed for its headquarters. In April 1955, Irwin opened its new doors at Masonic and Turk Streets in San Francisco.Mission & History"
. Blood Centers of the Pacific. Retrieved March 22, 2016. The Blood Centers of the Pacific headquarters still exist at this location today. In 1997, the Irwin Memorial Blood Bank merged with the Peninsula Memorial Blood Bank to become Blood Centers of the Pacific, reflecting its larger service area. In 1999, Blood Centers of the Pacific affiliated with United Blood Services, the nation’s largest blood collection organization. Blood Centers of the Pacific merged with the Sacramento area's BloodSource blood center in 2015; United Blood Services changed its corporate brand name in 2018 to

and retired all of its regional brand names. The Blood Systems Research Institute was housed at Blood Centers of the Pacific. It changed its name to Vitalant Research Institute as part of the rebranding.

References

External links

*
United Blood Services
{{Authority control Medical and health organizations based in California Blood donation 1941 establishments in California 2018 disestablishments in California Blood banks in the United States