FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Puget Sound Blood Center Expands Operations—Buys Renton Building

JANUARY, 4 2008, SEATTLE — In an effort to meet the future challenges of increased business and customer service goals, as well as technology demands, increased production of blood components and the facilitation of clinical trials, Puget Sound Blood Center last month purchased the Public Storage building at 701 SW 39th Street in Renton, Washington.

“The Blood Center has taken a step forward in both expansion and workflow/efficiency goals with the purchase of the building adjacent to our present Renton laboratory in the Scofield Memorial Lab Building,” said Richard B. Counts, M.D., president and CEO of the Blood Center. “It is a 65,000 square-foot facility that will be built out to suit our donor testing, inventory production and warehouse functions. We expect these departments will move in during the early part of 2009. Tissue processing will remain where it is in the Scofield Building.”

Last spring, Dr. Counts announced to staff the intent to expand facilities to accommodate the increase in many services, as planned for in the strategic goals established by the Blood Center’s Board of Trustees.

At the same time, a Lean Process Improvement Project was underway at the Renton Blood and Tissue Processing facility to improve workflow and efficiency, and to determine space needed for donor testing and processing laboratories over the next five years.

“We estimate the cost of the expansion project will be approximately $20 million,” said Dr. Counts. “This investment in our future will ensure the Blood Center is positioned to meet future challenges.”

The new building’s re-fit construction will begin in summer 2008. The immediate task will be to select the architects and builders to help turn the conceptual design into the operational model of efficiency envisioned by the Blood Center’s Renton Lean space-planning team.

About Puget Sound Blood Center
Puget Sound Blood Center is an independent, community-based blood center with a long and unique tradition of blending community volunteerism, medical science and research to improve patients’ lives. Patients with leukemia, cancer, burns, hemophilia and traumatic injuries depend on the breakthrough discoveries made by Blood Center scientists. Internationally recognized as a leader in transfusion medicine, the Blood Center operates the world's largest transfusion service, serves patients in more that 70 hospitals and clinics in 14 Western Washington counties and provides tissue and transplantation support to 185 hospitals across the Northwest.

If you have any questions please contact Michael Young at 206-292-6589 or pager 206-540-6189.

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