“For 60 years, Community Blood Center—now Solvita—has welcomed donors and saved lives by providing blood products to local hospitals,” said Christopher Graham, Solvita president and CEO.
Solvita believes Versiti is the right partner to continue that mission, Graham said.
“Their commitment to our shared vision and legacy makes them an ideal steward for our community’s blood health,” Graham said.
Preserving jobs and maintaining community relations are top priorities in this transition, the companies’ leaders said. Solvita had more than 1,200 employees, Graham said last year.
“We take the employment of every individual seriously, and we are committed to integrating all existing Solvita Blood Center employees into the new organization,” said Chris Miskel, Versiti president and CEO.
Versiti―which is headquartered in Milwaukee and has more than 2,400 employees―provides blood, organ and tissue donations for research, clinical care and diagnostic testing in the fields of transfusion medicine, transplantation and blood-related diseases.
When the Dayton blood and tissue centers rebranded as Solvita in September 2023, business leaders said there was only one other facility like them in the U.S. that was both a blood and tissue center.
Now the those two halves of the business will be separated as this acquisition pertains solely to Solvita Blood Center, the center said. Solvita will retain ownership and operation of its global tissue services from its Dayton and Kettering Research Park locations.
In 2022, the center reported revenues of $212.5 million for the tissue processing half of the business and $26 million for the blood processing half, according to IRS records. Total revenue combined was reported at $243.8 million with total expenses reported as $226.9 million and an operating profit or surplus of about $16.9 million.
“The critical need for a steady and reliable blood supply for area hospitals, health care partners and patients is at the forefront of our nonprofit mission,” Miskel said.
Versiti Blood Center of Ohio will maintain a fixed donation center presence in Dayton and will continue offering blood donation services through mobile blood drives across the region.
Versiti has multiple nonprofits, including two in Wisconsin and others in Illinois, Michigan and Indiana, according to IRS records. The controlling entity, Versiti Inc., reported a revenue of $30.2 million with expenses of $29.6 million and an operating surplus of $580,567 in 2022, while reporting a loss of $87,646 the previous year.
Versiti’s other nonprofits reported significant revenues and expenses with most, but not all, experiencing a surplus with their operations:
- Versiti Wisconsin Inc. reported a higher revenue of $220.8 million in 2022 with expenses of $207.3 million and an operating surplus of about $13.5 million, according to IRS records.
- Versiti Illinois’ 2022 IRS 990 form for nonprofits was not available, but its 2021 form reported a revenue of $60.2 million, of which included a surplus of $3.6 million.
- Versiti Indiana reported a revenue of $82.9 million in 2022, but with an operating loss of about $3.7 million, according to IRS records.
- Versiti Michigan reported a revenue of $65.2 million with a surplus of $1.3 million in 2022.
“Guided by Solvita’s strong reputation for community impact, we are excited to expand Versiti’s blood donation services to the generous donors of Dayton and its surrounding communities,” Miskel said.
Dayton’s blood center first opened on Sept. 14, 1964 in Dayton’s Fidelity Medical Building with four employees and six donors, and the center’s first blood donor was Barbara Bartley of Dayton. Founders Dr. Ludolph H. van der Hoeven of Good Samaritan Hospital and Dr. James W. Funkhouser of Miami Valley Hospital were the original medical directors of the blood center.
The blood center opened the Dayton Regional Tissue Bank in 1986, with Diane Wilson becoming the first director in 1988. They later become a donor center for the National Marrow Donor Program in 1991. The Dayton Regional Tissue Bank then became Community Tissue Services in 1994, acquiring a tissue bank in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1994 and then acquiring tissue banks in Portland, Ore. and Fresno, Cali. in 1996.
As a global tissue center, Solvita provides services to donor families, medical communities, recipients, organ procurement organizations and community partners through recovery, processing and distribution of tissue grafts. It is part of a national tissue network with its corporate office in Dayton and other locations in Ohio, Texas, Tennessee, Oregon and Idaho. For more information visit www.Solvita.org.
About the Author
