Backgrounder
As the primary provider of life-saving blood to over 30 hospital partners throughout Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin, Memorial Blood Centers is firmly grounded in the communities we serve. We also supply state-of-the-art laboratory services and biomedical expertise to area hospital and clinic partners, national blood centers, biotechnology companies and research institutions, and international clients from Australia to Switzerland.
About Memorial Blood Centers
- A leader in saving lives for 70 years
Established in 1948 to honor those who gave their lives in World War II, our community-based, nonprofit was supplying 12 hospitals with blood by January 1950. Today, we serve more than 30 hospital partners with blood and blood components and provide technical expertise and services around the world as a leader in transfusion medicine.
Through 10 donor centers and over 2,000 blood drives, Memorial Blood Centers annually collects tens of thousands of units of blood to help meet the steady demand from our partner hospitals.
Founded by volunteers, with Governance provided by a volunteer Board of Directors, Kathy Geist, MBA, Senior Executive Director, heads a Leadership Team for the organization that includes: Jed B. Gorlin, MD, MBA, Medical Director and Vice President, Medical and Quality Affairs; Mark Janzen, PhD, Vice President, Laboratory Services; Wendy Capetz, Director, Marketing and Development; Kendra Reynolds, Director, Quality and Regulatory Affairs; Tom Slotnick, Director, Human Resources; and Rick Teeter, Director, Finance and Controller.
Guidance is provided by a volunteer Board of Directors and through community-based advisory groups with members selected from a wide variety of experiences in business, nonprofit, healthcare, financial, marketing, informatics, and other areas.
Memorial Blood Centers’ headquarters is located at 737 Pelham Boulevard in St. Paul, Minnesota, and includes advanced scientific laboratories that are FDA licensed and European Union (EU) compliant with regulatory standards for manufacturing and testing blood.
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- Awards & Affiliations
Memorial Blood Centers is proud to be Minnesota’s largest community blood center that also draws from the strength of our affiliated state- and national-membership organizations, including America’s Blood Centers, Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA), AABB (formerly American Association of Blood Banks), and Blood Centers of America—one of the largest collection and distribution systems in the U.S. With over six decades of experience collecting, testing, and distributing more than 3 million units of blood, we also are proud of our long-standing history of achievements:
- Among the first group of blood centers in the nation to implement ISBT 128, a new labeling system for blood products that internationally standardizes blood bag labels for added quality and safety.
- Two-time winner of the prestigious Minnesota Quality Award.
- Funding
Memorial Blood Centers partners with thousands of philanthropic individuals, foundations, corporations, and various community and faith-based organizations that help us ensure a safe and stable blood supply—wherever and whenever it is needed. Generous donations from Financial Contributors include cash, stock, life insurance proceeds, and other monetary gifts. In addition to financial contributions, Memorial Blood Centers also generates income from service fees charged to hospital partners and other healthcare-related industry organizations for blood and blood components, laboratory testing and services provided. All fees are based on costs of collection, processing, testing, and distribution.