Community Blood Center of Greater Kansas City's Combination with New York Blood Center Completed

KANSAS CITY, Mo. and NEW YORK, Aug. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Community Blood Center of Greater Kansas City (CBC) and New York Blood Center (NYBC) announced today that the combination of the two entities has been completed. The partnership creates one of the leading blood centers serving patients and hospitals in the Northeast and Midwest United States, providing the highest level of blood and hematology-related products and services for today's fast-changing healthcare environment.

NYBC Chairman Howard P. Milstein said: "This is a proud day for NYBC. We can now celebrate our combination with the wonderful people of CBC, serving the Greater Kansas City community. ​With this merger ​complete, we look forward to working with our hospital partners there, developing and utilizing the resources and synergies of our combined entities in areas that include blood-related products and services, as well as advanced research and development."

Christopher D. Hillyer, M.D., President and CEO of NYBC, said: "All of us at NYBC are very enthusiastic about this partnership. CBC and NYBC share common values, mission, dedication, and passion. We look forward to continuing CBC's excellence, and growing advanced technologies and services within the Kansas City metro area and beyond."

In conjunction with the closing, CBC and NYBC announced changes to the Board of Trustees of both organizations. In Kansas City, former CBC Chairman Mark Schmidtlein and Steve Wilkinson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Menorah Medical Center in Kansas City, will be joined on the CBC board by NYBC Chairman Howard P. Milstein, NYBC President and CEO Christopher D. Hillyer, NYBC board member David Tendler, and Beth Shaz, MD, Chief Medical Officer at NYBC.

In addition, Mr. Schmidtlein and former CBC board member Stephen Wurtzler will join NYBC's board.

CBC will continue to operate under its own name in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

About Community Blood Center of Greater Kansas City (CBC)
Community Blood Center, now part of the NYBC family, serves hospitals in the Kansas City metropolitan area, as well as eastern Kansas and western Missouri. CBC provides nearly 200,000 blood products per year to approximately 70 area hospitals – and calls on about 580 donors each day to meet the need for a life-saving gift of blood. The blood center makes timely deliveries of safe, high-quality products to meet transfusion needs, for routine care and emergencies.

Website:  http://www.savealifenow.org/

About New York Blood Center
Now celebrating its 50^th anniversary, New York Blood Center (NYBC) is one of the largest independent, community-based blood centers in the country. Each year, NYBC provides approximately one million blood products to nearly 200 hospitals in the Northeast. NYBC also provides a wide array of transfusion-related medical services. NYBC is also home to the world's largest public cord blood bank, which provides stem cells for transplant in many countries, and a renowned research institute, which – among other milestones – developed the Hepatitis B vaccine and an innovative blood purification technology. 

Website:  www.nybloodcenter.org

CBC Contact: Lisa Keller
[email protected]
816-838-6114

NYBC Contact: James Haggerty
PRCG
[email protected]
212-683-8100

SOURCE New York Blood Center