In 1970, several San Antonio hospitals were operating their own blood banks, each following different quality standards for testing blood. The blood supply, which had been erratic, dropped drastically in 1971 and 1972 when new federal laws restricted and then prohibited blood centers from paying for blood.
The major hospital systems realized they had a community-wide challenge that could be best resolved by collaboration. In 1973, three San Antonio physicians –Charles Robinson, M.D, Robert F. Gossett, M.D., and Michael H. Sulak M.D -- working with the Bexar County Medical Society, became the charter trustees of a new locally-owned and locally-operated, not-for-profit blood bank, South Texas Regional Blood Bank (STRBB).
The first year the Bank drew approximately 25,000 units and tracked blood shipments by sticking colored pins on a plywood board. Blood was shipped to outlying communities via Greyhound buses. Emergency deliveries went in police-type cars.
In 1976 the STRBB moved into a building at 7078 San Pedro. A local auto dealer donated a new “Bloodmobile” for mobile blood drives. The service expanded to 27 counties and adopted a logo that reflected its life-giving mission: intertwined double hearts. By 1984, the STRBB’s donor base had grown steadily, enabling it to receive and process 58,000 units of blood.
Three years later, the organization underwent momentous changes. Moving into a new facility on IH -10 West, it added a tissue bank and adopted a new name, South Texas Blood and Tissue Center, to reflect its newly expanded mission.
In 1996, STBTC became the first North American Blood and Tissue Center to achieve ISO 9000 Registration, a prestigious international standards certification. That was followed by other safety steps, including a new NAT lab that separated plasma handling, pooling, assay and post-amplification procedures.
South Texas Blood & Tissue Center now has over 700 employees and numerous volunteers and works closely with regional hospitals, clinics and plasma centers. It operates eight donor rooms: at Donor Pavilion, Southeast, Westover Hills, Shavano Park, Methodist Healthcare and Northeast in San Antonio as well as sites in New Braunfels and Victoria.