History

Not many can claim to be a "first" at many things, however the Armed Services Blood Bank Center – Pacific Northwest (ASBBC-PNW) located at Fort Lewis, Washington is in a league of a few. The ASBBC started its humble beginning in 1986 after the Armed Services Blood Program created the Department of Defense’s first tri-service staffed strategic blood center. In order to implement this plan, the smaller hospital-based donor centers of the Army, Navy, and Air Force in California were combined to form an able-bodied team to collect, process, test, and ship blood to the region’s military transfusion services from Fort Ord, California. The concept was a resounding success.

In September 1993, the ASBBC at Fort Ord was closed due to the closure of the installation under the Base Realignment and Closure program. The personnel from the old organization were transferred to Madigan Army Medical Center to help build a new ASBBC. The ASBBC eventually incorporated the donor center operations from Naval Hospital Bremerton, which allowed them to meet the region’s quota to support the military contingency blood supply, in addition to meeting the blood needs of the military hospitals in the Puget Sound area. During this period the ASBBC not only collected and processed whole blood, but also did their own enzyme immunoassay testing of these units. However, in January 2005, via Army Blood Program Office guidance to centralize donor testing, the center began sending samples for enzyme immunoassay and nucleic acid testing to Fort Hood, Texas.

In October 2007, the ASBBC moved once again to its current location at the Madigan Annex (previously known as Old Madigan). Historically, the Madigan Annex was known as Madigan General Hospital, named in honor of Colonel Patrick Sarsfield Madigan, a noted Army neuropsychiatrist. Built in 1943 and opened in 1944, termed a Type A hospital, it was constructed of semi-permanent brick to house one-story wards connected by enclosed walkways and corridors. The hospital’s role was to function in the post World War II period, serving the war wounded and returning them to civilian life. Built for 1,567 beds the hospital could accommodate up to 2,500 beds in an emergency.

The ASBBC occupies a wing that originally serviced as a dining hall for doctors, nurses and staff . The space offers a bright and cheery surrounding with the help of a roof monitor skylight. Eventually, the wing became a pathology laboratory that received the installation of an electron microscope which required the construction of a partial second floor to accommodate the equipment. In 2007, the wing received major renovations to serve as the present blood bank center.

The ASBBC-PNW is projected to move again within the next 3-years to the North Fort area of Fort Lewis where it will be in a central location to many unit commands, providing greater accessibility for both for walk-in donors and those donating at local mobile blood drives.

PAST DIRECTORS of the ASBBC: