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Red Cross to move blood distribution center to Health Science Campus |
| By
Cynthia Nowak |
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May 13, 2008
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| This rendering by the Collaborative Inc. shows what the American Red Cross regional blood distribution center may look like on the Health Science Campus. |
You might say that UT was promoting the lifeblood of northwest Ohio with the sale of the former Medical University of Ohio Foundation building to the American Red Cross.
The structure and its six-acre site, located on the Health Science Campus near the southern boundary of the UT Science and Technology Corridor, will become a Red Cross regional blood distribution center, replacing the Red Cross’s Western Lake Erie Region Blood Services headquarters near downtown Toledo.
The Red Cross, UT and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D., Ohio) have been working together on the project for at least two years, according to Donald Baker, chief executive officer, American Red Cross Blood Services’ Western Lake Erie Region.
“Dr. Jacobs, Congresswoman Kaptur and their teams did a marvelous job of giving us various options for the new facility. They wanted to offer us something that would enable us to continue our life-saving mission,” Baker said.
The new headquarters will continue to serve as a hub for the collection and distribution of blood products to 23 hospitals in 11 counties in addition to serving as a regional training facility.
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| Breaking ground at the new site for the blood distribution center on the Health Science Campus were, from left, Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken, Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, UT President Lloyd Jacobs and Donald Baker of the American Red Cross. |
“We were looking for a site that would be reasonably close to our donor center on Executive Parkway,” Baker said, adding that the new location will allow about 200 jobs to remain in Toledo. “That’s one of the most productive donor centers in the Red Cross system and it will remain open.”
Kaptur, who secured federal funding for a portion of the project’s approximate $7 million costs, said, “We are all very excited about the Red Cross moving to The University of Toledo Health Science Campus. It really adds a jewel to our medical crown here in Toledo. It was a long run, but in the end all the pieces really fell into place, making it a perfect fit and benefiting everyone, from the environment to the local work force.”
The original 15,000-square-foot building is undergoing renovations that include a 17,000-square-foot addition. An opening date of early 2009 is planned.
“The new Red Cross blood services headquarters is a great example of a partnership that is keeping a vital service in the Toledo area,” said UT President Lloyd Jacobs. “I’m proud that UT was able to help facilitate a project that fits in so closely with our own mission of improving the human condition.”
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