A Note from the CEO This section of our website, About Us, would not be complete without noting that the growth and success of The Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas is not so much about us as it is About You. It’s about our faithful blood donors. It’s about the families of our tissue donors whose personal stories become a part of us. And it’s about our many corporate supporters and individual champions in the community. We appreciate each and every one of you. Ultimately, it’s about the countless thousands of grateful recipients and families whose lives have been touched by your generous gifts. Life is in your hands.

The Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Founded in 1951 as the Travis County Medical Society Blood Bank, it initially provided whole blood to four Austin Hospitals and a couple of rural clinics. Its mission is to safeguard the community’s gifts of blood and tissue with uncompromising quality and excellence in customer service.

 

The Blood and Tissue Center today is the exclusive provider and guardian of the community blood supply for more than 30 medical facilities in a ten-county service area of Central Texas.

 

Each year over 55,000 whole blood and apheresis donations are collected at the Center’s mobile blood drives and fixed site donor centers. These donations are tested extensively to assure suitability for transfusion and processed into life saving components: red blood cells, plasma, and platelets, which go to help up to 165,000 patients.

The Center works with the Marrow Donor Program of Central and South Texas to increase the number of Central Texans on the National Marrow Donor Registry.

The Tissue Services division was established in 1985. Today, it provides a full range of human allograft tissue products for orthopedic, neurological, cardiac, and burn surgeries. In addition to traditional bone and tendon grafts, the processing lab has developed specialized expertise in precision bone grafts, machined to exacting specifications for spinal surgeries.

Quality is an organizational commitment backed up by a Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs Department with proven expertise in quality engineering and systems improvement.

The Center is licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration, accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks and American Association of Tissue Banks, and is a proud member of America’s Blood Centers.