Community Tissue Services Celebrates 25 Years of Service to the Miami Valley Region 

Organization Celebrates its Impact on the Nation

DAYTON, OH, Dec 20, 2011 – Community Tissue Services celebrates 25 years of providing lifesaving and life-enhancing tissue grafts for transplantation.  Community Tissue Services thanks the community for their support of our organization which has allowed us to be a global provider of tissue grafts.    

In December, we will commemorate our 25th anniversary with our staff, thanking them for their dedication to excellence.  Staff members of Community Tissue Services comprise more than 300 professionals whose passion is to positively affect lives and practice good stewardship of the gift.  Through a vision of Extraordinary People Saving & Enhancing Lives, Community Tissue Services provides products and services that have an impact on lives around the world.

According to David Smith, M.D. and CEO of Community Tissue Services, “as the year ends, we reflect and are grateful to be where we are today, and look forward to being on the forefront of product and biotechnology development, and setting the industry standard for excellence in tissue banking technology.”  Smith added, “together, with the extraordinary gift from its tissue donors, Community Tissue Services will continue to save and enhance lives for many years to come.”

Community Tissue Services was founded in Dayton, Ohio in 1986 to fulfill the needs of the local community for tissue allografts.  Today, CTS has grown into a national network with locations throughout the United States.  Community Tissue Services distributes over 200,000 allografts annually making it one of the largest tissue banks in the country and the largest nonprofit provider of skin grafts to surgeons for severe burn patients.

More than one million tissue transplants are performed each year.  Surgeons routinely use donated tissue to replace bone, tendons and ligaments. Heart valves and saphenous veins are used for cardiovascular surgeries such as heart bypass and valve replacement.  Skin grafts also save lives of burn patients by helping to prevent infection, control fluid loss and decrease pain. 

In May of 2011, Community Tissue Services opened its Center for Tissue, Innovation and Research in Kettering, Ohio to further its mission of saving and enhancing lives.  The 94,000 square foot state-of-the-art foot facility is designed to expand research and development; processing; and distribution of tissue-based grafts, products and medical devices.  With eight branch locations in the United States, the Ohio Center serves as the nucleus for CTS’ network by providing tissue grafts to support its local branch hospitals, surgeons and patients.  Expanded operations at the Center will also further position CTS as a prominent leader in tissue banking technology by meeting the escalating demands from medical professionals nationwide. 

For more information on Community Tissue Services, visit www.communitytissue.org or call 937.461.3364.  To view the heartfelt stories of tissue donors and recipients, and learn how you can become involved, visit Community Tissue Services at www.fiftylives.org.

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About Community Tissue Services
Headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, Community Tissue Services (CTS) is a nonprofit quality, ethical provider of services to recipients, donor families, medical communities, and community partners through the respectful recovery, processing and distribution of tissue grafts.  CTS, an accredited member of the AATB, is one of the largest nonprofit tissue banks in the United States and operates regional offices in California, Texas, Indiana, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Idaho and Ohio.  In 2010, CTS distributed more than 165,000 tissue grafts to 2,000 hospitals, physicians and surgeons.

© Community Tissue Services