KBC celebrating 50 years of saving lives!
By Dennis Williams, M.D.
Kentucky Blood Center Medical Director
Kentucky Blood Center is celebrating 50 years of saving lives in Kentucky.
Created in 1968 by the Fayette County Medical Society to centralize blood-banking services for Fayette County hospitals, the blood center, then known as Central Kentucky Blood Center, was first located in the basement of the Perkins Pancake House on Limestone where UK Football Coach John Ray was the first donor.
In 1979 CKBC moved operations to Waller Avenue. Dr. David Stevens, who was part of the Medical Society committee that created CKBC, was the first person to donate at the Waller location. Twenty-eight years later, he was also the first person to give at the new Beaumont Donor Center, which opened in 2007.
Shortly after moving into the Beaumont facility, CKBC dropped the “Central” in its name and became Kentucky Blood Center, to better reflect its increasing service area.
KBC has grown into a regional blood bank that provides services in 90 Kentucky counties from Pikeville to Paducah. We now operate six donor centers, two each in Lexington and Louisville, and one in Pikeville and Somerset. Our newest center opened in Louisville in March. In addition to those locations, we conduct numerous mobile blood drives daily throughout the state, bringing convenient blood donation opportunities to Kentuckians close to where they live and work.
To provide sufficient blood components for patients and hospitals, KBC continually uses many means to encourage Kentuckians to donate blood: emails, postcards, phone calls, text messages, social media and printed materials. In addition, to help celebrate our 50th anniversary this summer, KBC is offering a big grand prize to anyone 18 and older who registers to give blood – a beautiful gray Toyota 4-Runner. The prize drawing runs May 21 through Sept. 7. Those who give early in the promotion can donate again before the last day, and every donation registration counts as one entry.
We appreciate your support as we continue to grow to better serve you and your patients.
