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Newborns Give Hope Through Cord Blood Donations
Midland Memorial Hospital to begin collections

Midland (June 2, 2009)– Midland Memorial Hospital is the twelfth hospital to be collecting life-saving umbilical cord blood for the statewide repository. The Texas Cord Blood Bank, a division of the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center, is a non-profit program established by the Texas legislature in 2001 to collect umbilical cord blood, which can benefit patients, usually children, suffering from a number of potentially fatal diseases.

“Our staff, leaders and physicians at Midland Memorial Hospital are excited to start this process. The benefit potential of cord blood on people’s lives was very important in our decision to partner with Texas Cord Blood Bank. This will make a difference in people’s lives”, says Robert Dent, VP of Nursing at Midland Memorial Hospital.

Umbilical cord blood, which is normally discarded after the birth of a baby, is rich in blood-making cells that can be used as an alternative to bone marrow transplants to treat cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma, disorders of the blood-making system such as sickle-cell anemia, and severe immune-system disorders.

There is no cost to parents associated with donating, and the cord blood is helping to build a statewide collection of cord blood that captures the vast ethnic diversity of Texans, as ethnicity plays a key role in finding a suitable genetic match for patients.

“We are excited with the addition of Midland Memorial Hospital as a partner,” said Dr. Norman D. Kalmin, president/chief executive officer and medical director of the San Antonio-based South Texas Blood & Tissue Center. “This partnership has great potential to provide a significant help in banking a diversity of cord blood units.”

The Texas Cord Blood Bank’s first collections began in June 2005 at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, and new collection centers have been opened in other cities, including Brownsville, Dallas, Houston, New Braunfels, and Waco as part of the statewide effort to build a cord blood bank that captures the diversity of all Texans.

“We are grateful for the support of Midland Memorial Hospital and their willingness to offer this program to the community,” said Mary Beth Fisk, Vice President of Development and Tissue Services for STBTC. “To date, we have banked more than 4,300 units of cord blood throughout the state.”