To be the donor-to-patient lifeline, proving our communities & medical partners security by meeting transfusion & health care needs.

Today, Oklahoma Blood Institute (OBI) is the eleventh largest non-profit regional blood center in America. It projects a need for 220,000 units of blood a year and provides transfusion blood products and clinical services to more than 150 medical facilities in Oklahoma and north central Texas with the help of nearly 700 employees working with as many as 800 volunteers and 2,600 drive coordinators. In addition to its headquarters and laboratories, OBI maintains four donor centers in the Oklahoma City area with regional centers in Tulsa, Lawton, Enid, Ardmore, Ada and Ponca City. OBI also operates the Texas Blood Institute in Wichita Falls.

Established on January 1, 1977 by the Oklahoma County Medical Society, OBI has been committed to four major goals from the beginning:

• Maintaining a sufficient community blood supply
• Providing specialized medical services
• Educating community and medical leaders
• Pioneering in blood-related research

Revenues for OBI's operation are derived from blood processing fees charged to the hospitals served. These processing fees, similar to those charged by all blood centers, recover the cost of recruiting donors and collecting, testing, storing and delivering blood to hospital patients. Special projects are funded through the generous contributions of area businesses, schools, foundations and individuals.

• As an organization dependent on volunteer blood donors, the Oklahoma Blood Institute believes strongly in giving back to the community. OBI is able to offer a variety of services to the community, which include providing multi-level educational opportunities, participating in health fairs and performing specialized testing to assist individuals in monitoring their health.

  Education

  The Oklahoma Blood Institute offers educational presentations to everyone from elementary school children to physicians. OBI staff perform hundreds of educational lectures each year on subjects such as donating blood, basic blood banking, HIV and other blood-borne pathogens and transfusion medicine updates.

  Tours and Health Fairs

  Nearly 600 people tour the Oklahoma Blood Institute's main facility each year. The OBI tour includes an educational presentation followed by a walk through the building for a closer look at how blood is drawn, processed, tested and stored. OBI also participates in numerous health fairs and events each year, offering a variety of services from providing information to special testing and health screens.

http://obi.org

• Dawn Riden
• 580-222-7361
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