Blood bank gets new name: Vitalant

Rebranding effort aimed at attracting younger donors

The Central Blood Bank has changed its name as part of a national rebranding and joint effort with affiliated blood donation operations to reach younger donors.

Vitalant Pittsburgh became the new name Monday for the local nonprofit that has operated since 1951 as Central Blood Bank, which was created as part of the Green Tree-based Institute for Transfusion Medicine. The institute merged in March 2017 with Blood Systems, a larger nonprofit organization based in Scottsdale, Ariz., making Central Blood Bank one of 10 regional centers within the Blood Systems network.

Kristen Lane, a spokeswoman for Vitalant Pittsburgh, said it became unwieldy to have those 10 local operators continue with their own names, prompting Blood Systems to rebrand itself as Vitalant and market them all under that umbrella starting Monday.

Despite the official change, signs have not yet been updated on the 20 bricks-and-mortar donation centers in Western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia or the mobile units that cross the region. Ms. Lane said they all will be converted with Vitalant signs in the months ahead.

She said the local operation, the main supplier of blood for transfusions required in area hospitals, already began benefiting last year from becoming part of a national network.

Donated blood can be exchanged among the 10 centers, which have 127 donation locations, to accommodate areas that have the greatest need from either day-to-day medical procedures or emergencies such as mass shootings or natural disasters, Ms. Lane said.

“We needed to be more nimble,” she said.

“This really increases our capabilities and our goal to provide blood when it’s needed and where it’s needed.”

An upcoming marketing campaign connected to the name change, Ms. Lane said, will try to address concerns that younger adults do not donate blood at the same frequency as prior generations. The hope is that the new Vitalant brand and advertising will help capture the attention of millennials and others. “We are going to be calling our donors awe-makers, in the sense that when you donate blood you create a moment of awe” by potentially saving a life, Ms. Lane said.

“We are putting out that message to young donors to make them feel part of something bigger than they are.”

She said the 200 blood bank employees in the region will continue all of their normal work under the new name, and the operations at the donation centers themselves are undergoing no change.