Unyts hosted the America’s Blood Centers (ABC) 50th Interim Meeting & Medical Directors Workshop conference in Buffalo for the first time. Since becoming the newest ABC member in 2010, WNY’s leading organ, eye, and tissue donation organization has joined the list of national blood bank donation centers serving the community. Unyts’ own blood bank has successfully reached its 5-year mark, having distributed over 224,000 blood products to hospital patients throughout the region. 
Based in Washington, DC ABC represents over 70 independent blood centers in the US and Canada. ABC provides blood transfusion products and services to more than 3,500 hospitals and healthcare facilities across North America.
Over 140 blood bank CEOs, medical experts and other senior officials from ABC blood banks came together for the weekend conference. The Medical Directors Workshop addressed topics relating to hospitals and community blood centers. Topics included: the effect of anemia on mortality and morbidity; transfusion triggers; the coagulation cascade during severe hemorrhage; hemorrhage management; bacterial contamination in apheresis platelets; DonorHART; hemoglobin standards; government regulations; donor center policies and more.
Featured presenters from prestigious medical institutions across the nation were: Jeffrey L. Carson, MD, Professor and Chief, Division of General Internal Medicine at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ; Jeannie L. Callum, MD, FRCPC, CTBS, Director of Transfusion Medicine at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON; Jeannie L. Callum, MD, FRCPC, CTBS, Director of Transfusion Medicine at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON; Arthur W. Bracey, MD, Associate Chief of Pathology at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, Houston, TX; Mary J. Townsend, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Blood Systems, Inc., Amarillo, TX; Orieji C. Illoh, MD, Medical Officer at the Food and Drug Administration, Rockville, MD; Paul D. Mintz, MD, Deputy Director, Division of Hematology at the Office of Blood Research and Review, FDA/CBER, Rockville, MD; Penelope Meyers, MA, MT(ASCP)SBB, Medical Technologist at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Baltimore, MD; Kevin J. Land, MD, Chief Medical Officer at United Blood Services – Texas, Scottsdale, AZ; and Gary Levy, MD, Medical Director at LifeShare Blood Centers, Shreveport, LA.
On Monday, August 6, John Bartimole, the President of WNY Healthcare Association, will talk about the Affordable Care Act Supreme Court ruling. Unyts has recognized the need to help hospitals save money, especially on the heels of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. By providing blood products to area hospitals, a strong partnership has been built and sustained, resulting in the success of the blood bank.