Milwaukee-based Versiti Inc. will operate a new blood distribution center in partnership with the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, the university announced.
Versiti currently operates four blood collection and distribution centers in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, including Versiti BloodCenter of Wisconsin, and the Blood Research Institute in Milwaukee.
Under the new partnership, Versiti will supply all of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s blood and blood products. The partnership goes into effect July 1. The medical center said it uses approximately 60,000 units of blood products per year, more than any other local hospital system.
Cell-based immunotherapy, stem cell transplants and bone marrow transplants are among the treatments requiring blood products at Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center. Ohio State, which has the only adult transplant center in the region, also performs procedures such as heart, lung, liver and kidney transplants, as well as general and trauma surgeries, and offers specialized treatment for sickle cell and other benign blood disorders.
“As one of the top hospitals in the nation, the Midwest’s largest cancer hospital and the area’s only academic medical center, we treat the most complex patients and perform the area’s most complicated treatments and procedures requiring blood and blood products,” said Dr. Andrew Thomas, chief clinical officer at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. “This will help improve our patient care through innovations and efficiencies.”
Versiti is the fifth largest supplier of blood in the nation. It serves about 200 hospitals and academic medical centers in the Midwest.
“We’re extremely proud to partner with an acclaimed health care institution such as The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center,” said Chris Miskel, president and chief executive officer of Versiti. “As blood health innovators with expertise in hematology and transfusion medicine – as well as world renowned research – we’re dedicated to serving the needs of Wexner Medical Center and helping to ensure the best patient outcomes. Through the ongoing generosity of Ohio blood donors, we’re committed to serving as a beacon of hope for even more patients in need.”
In a recent interview with BizTimes Milwaukee, Miskel said blood centers, like many health care organizations nationally, have experienced significant consolidation over the past decade. He said Versiti is well-positioned to weather that trend in the future.
“I suspect when we get another five to 10 years out, we’ll look back and there will have been more consolidation,” he said. “Versiti as an organization will be standing for the next 50-plus years just by virtue of the strength of what we bring to the table and what our customers have come to acknowledge and expect and desire from us.”
