Innovative Blood Resources and New York Blood Center Join Forces in Lifesaving Mission

ST. PAUL, Minn. and NEW YORK, Aug. 2, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Innovative Blood Resources (IBR) and New York Blood Center (NYBC) announced today that they are combining their operations to create one of the nation's leading blood centers, serving patients and hospitals in the Northeast, Midwest and nationally.

The combination of the strengths of IBR and NYBC provides the opportunity for greater breadth of services, efficiency and financial stability. The goal is to continue to provide the highest level of blood and hematology related products and services in a fast-changing environment for community blood centers nationwide.

The new partnership with IBR comes on the heels of NYBC's highly successful 2014 alliance with Community Blood Center of Greater Kansas City (CBC).

IBR is one of the leading blood centers in the Midwest. IBR was formed in 2012 through the combination of two strong, nationally recognized, community-based nonprofit blood centers: Minnesota-based Memorial Blood Centers and Nebraska Community Blood Bank. With a combined 100 years of blood industry experience, IBR provides comprehensive product and service capabilities focusing on value-driven solutions for patients, hospitals, physicians, researchers, and other health care partners.

Andrew Detlefsen, Chair of IBR's Board of Directors, said: "We are very pleased with the partnership with New York Blood Center and what it means for Innovative Blood Resources' donors, partners, hospitals, volunteers, staff, and supporters. The depth and strength of the NYBC organization will enhance IBR's service offerings, and lead to future growth for the combined organization."

"The clinical and research strength of New York Blood Center is unparalleled, and I look forward to working with their incredible team of professionals," Donald C. Berglund, M.H.A., Chief Executive Officer of Innovative Blood Resources, said. "Our combined organization will benefit IBR in many ways, and I look forward to developing the next chapter in serving our communities with a safe and reliable blood supply."

New York Blood Center Chairman Howard P. Milstein said: "IBR is an ideal partner for our Center, and we welcome them to the NYBC family. As the market for blood services and products evolves, we believe this combination will be of great benefit to both organizations as we continue to provide the highest quality blood products, services and cutting-edge research and development."

Christopher D. Hillyer, M.D., President and CEO of NYBC, said: "We're extremely pleased to be partnering with such an excellent blood center. NYBC and IBR have a remarkable alignment of mission, vision and talent. We look forward to working together to ensure the finest customer-focused service for our hospitals and patients."

Mark Schmidtlein, NYBC board member and former Chairman of CBC, said: "We in Kansas City are excited to have our Midwest neighbors join our family. Based on our very successful partnership with NYBC, we know that our combined organizations will bring great benefit to patients in all the communities we serve."

IBR's donors and volunteers will continue to receive the excellent service they've come to expect from the organization. Moreover, hospital customers will have access to an even broader range of blood products and services as a result of the partnership. The long-term goal of both organizations will be to maximize the operational synergies between the two organizations to the benefit of all members of the community.

In an exciting expansion of IBR offerings, NYBC's cutting-edge medical, laboratory and testing services are expected to become part of the organization's offering to current and future customers.

About Innovative Blood Resources

Innovative Blood Resources is a non-profit community blood center that was formed in 2012 through the combination of two strong, nationally-recognized, community-based nonprofit blood centers: Minnesota-based Memorial Blood Centers, and Nebraska Community Blood Bank. With a combined 100 years of blood industry experience, IBR provides comprehensive product and service capabilities focusing on value-driven solutions for patients, hospitals, physicians, researchers, and other health care partners.

IBR is also home to IBR Biomedical Services, which grew from the nationally recognized research and clinical trial contributions of Memorial Blood Centers' physicians and clinicians in blood banking and transfusion services. IBR Biomedical Services offers expertise in the areas of cellular therapy, clinical trial support, as well as regulatory and quality systems consulting.

Website: www.innovativebloodresources.org

About New York Blood Center

Now more than 50 years old, New York Blood Center (NYBC) is one of the largest independent, nonprofit community-based blood centers in the country, serving the more than 25 million people who live in the New York metropolitan area. Each year, NYBC provides approximately one million blood products to nearly 200 hospitals in the Northeast. In addition, Community Blood Center of Greater Kansas City (CBC) 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.

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 innovative blood purification technology.

Website:  www.nybloodcenter.org

SOURCE New York Blood Center

Related Links

http://www.nybloodcenter.org