Community Blood Center Names Transfusion Safety Director to Lead Innovative Safety Program

Community Blood Center/Community Tissue Services™ (CBC/CTS) has named Sugarcreek Township resident Colleen McGuinness Slapak to the newly created position of transfusion safety director to lead the transfusion safety program at CBC/CTS.  Slapak, who is a certified Specialist in Blood Banking (SBB), will work with CBC’s executive management, medical directors and area hospitals to collect and analyze transfusion-related data, determine ‘best practices’ and provide education.  The program is one of, if not the first of its kind in the nation.

“We are pleased to have Colleen leading our efforts in the area of transfusion safety,” stated Jodi Minneman, chief operating officer of blood services at CBC.  “Transfusion safety has always been a key focus of the Community Blood Center and hospital transfusion services.  Colleen has the background and the experience to lead this innovative effort in a direction that will enhance patient safety as well as the effective management of the blood supply.”

“This new program is really a ‘new twist’ to what the hospitals have been working on individually,” shared Slapak.  “Now, we will be working together as a ‘community’ to develop the best standard of transfusion practice for our patients across the Miami and White Water Valleys.  What we learn here will be shared with other blood banking organizations such as the America’s Blood Centers and the national hemovigilance program to ensure that we really do maintain ‘best practices’.”

Most recently, Slapak held the position of product manager at Mediware Information Systems, Inc., where she was involved in the design, development, documentation and implementation of blood bank software and ancillary programs.  She has a wide range of experience in the blood banking industry including previous technical manager of transfusion services with CompuNet Clinical Laboratories at Miami Valley Hospital.  She was also a member of the adjunct faculty for the Wright State University Medical Technology Program.  Slapak continues to participate as a lead assessor for the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) Accreditation Program and on inspection teams for the College of American Pathologists (CAP) Laboratory Accreditation Program.  Slapak has a Master of Science degree in Blood Transfusion Medicine from Hoxworth Blood Center and the University of Cincinnati.

Community Blood Center/Community Tissue Services™ (CBC/CTS), an independent, not-for-profit organization, is ISO 9001:2000 Certified. Community Blood Center is the sole provider of blood components to twenty-five hospitals in the Miami (Ohio) and Whitewater (Indiana) Valleys. Community Tissue Services™ serves the public through recovery, processing and distribution of human tissue donations used for transplantation. Community Tissue Services™ is comprised of eight regional offices: Dayton, Ohio (Corporate Headquarters); Fort Worth, Texas; Fresno, California; Indianapolis, Indiana; Memphis, Tennessee; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon; and Toledo, Ohio with satellite offices in Boise, Idaho, Medford, Oregon and Connersville, Indiana.  For more information about Community Blood Center/Community Tissue Services™, visit www.cbccts.org.

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