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Citing need for scale, Florida's OneBlood blood center seeks merger with Pittsburgh partner

 
Published July 28, 2014

Citing a medical need for larger-scale blood centers, Florida's not-for-profit OneBlood says it may merge with a Pittsburgh counterpart, the Institute for Transfusion Medicine Inc.

Orlando-based OneBlood serves most of Florida and parts of South Georgia and Alabama, while the Institute covers Pittsburgh, Chicago, Virginia and parts of Ohio and West Virginia.

The merger would create the largest independent not-for-profit blood center in the United States, distributing nearly 2 million units of blood annually and employing more than 3,500 people, with combined revenues of $480 million.

"Hospital consolidation continues to occur, and medical facilities need larger-scale blood centers to serve multiple locations in broader service regions," said the Institute CEO Jim Covert. Don Doddridge, OneBlood CEO, stated that a merger will help strengthen the blood supply, especially in times of natural disasters such as hurricanes in the South and winter storms in the North, while at the same time creating operational efficiencies.

The due diligence period, when the merger duo review their potential partners, is expected to last for the next several months. OneBlood was formed in 2012 in the merger of three of Florida's independent not-for-profit blood centers: Florida Blood Services in St. Petersburg, Florida's Blood Centers Inc. in Orlando, and Community Blood Centers of Florida in Lauderhill.