About Us

    We have long been a proud example of The Oklahoma Standard in action. While we were founded in Oklahoma City nearly 50 years ago and our headquarters remain here, our reach has extended to all corners of Oklahoma and parts of Arkansas and Texas over time.

    With that expansion came the need for a new name: Our Blood Institute. This evolution allows us to join together all parts of our organization, creating an identity that truly embraces our mission. No matter the location, we strive to be the donor-to-patient lifeline, providing our communities and medical partners security by meeting transfusion and healthcare needs.

    Our Blood Institute is the sixth-largest independent blood center in the nation, with 17 donor centers in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas. OBI is the nonprofit blood provider for patients at more than 240 hospitals, medical facilities and air ambulances across all three states.

    Our Blood Institute in Oklahoma: OBI has 10 donor centers in Oklahoma and provides more than 95 percent of Oklahoma’s blood supply to more than 160 hospitals, medical facilities and air ambulances. OBI's donor centers are located in Ada, Ardmore, Broken Arrow, Central Oklahoma City, Edmond, Enid, Lawton, Norman, Northwest Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

    Our Blood Institute in Arkansas: OBI has five donor centers in Arkansas and provides blood products for patients in more than 40 Arkansas hospitals, medical facilities and air ambulances. OBI's donor centers are located in Ft. Smith, Hot Springs, Little Rock, North Little Rock and Russellville.

    Our Blood Institute in Wichita Falls: OBI in Wichita Falls provides blood products for patients in eight hospitals in the Texoma region, including Baylor, Clay, Hardeman, Wichita and Wilbarger counties.

    Coffee Memorial Blood Center: Coffee Memorial Blood Center is part of Our Blood Institute and is located in Amarillo, Texas. CMBC provides blood to all major hospitals in the High Plains region.

    Leadership

    • John Armitage, MD

      President and CEO

    • John Krischel

      Chief Information Officer

    • Dr. Walter Linz

      Chief Medical Officer

    • Justin Redwine

      Chief Technology Officer

    • Randy Stark

      Chief Financial Officer

    • Marlena Frye

      Vice President, Donor Services

    • Tammy Kirkwood

      Vice President, Donor Recruitment

    • Laura McClannan

      Vice President, Quality Management

    • Joseph McNeil

      Vice President of Human Resources

    • Charles Mooney

      Vice President, BioDevelopment

    • Jovona Powelson

      Vice President, Technical Operations

    • Terry Ridenour

      Vice President, Center Administration & Operations

    • Tara Scott

      Vice President, Marketing & Communications

    Board of Directors

    • John Armitage, MD

      President & CEO, Our Blood Institute

    • Richard Boatsman, MD

      Chair, Board of Directors

    • David R. Carpenter

      Vice Chair, Board of Directors - President, American Fidelity

    • Frank Barnett, MD

    • Larry Bookman, MD

    • David H. Chansolme, MD

      Infectious Diseases Consultants of OKC

    • Wayne Coldwell

      Deputy Exec Dir., Internal Oper., Cherokee Nation Health Services

    • David A. Flack, MD

      Pathology Associates of North Texas

    • Sally Cumpton

    • Jay Allen Gregory, MD

    • Henry J. Hood

      Attorney

    • Joe M. Hodges

      Regional President, SSM Health Oklahoma

    • Bradley Margo, MD

      OCMS President (Rotating Member)

    • Randal Carl Juengel, MD

      Department of Pathology, SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital

    • Gary W. Mitchell, D. Ph.

      Chairman – Board of Trustees – NW OBI

    • W.H. (Bud) Oehlert, MD

    • Gary L. Patzkowsky, DO

      Member NW OBI

    • Craig Sperry

      Valero Energy Corporation

    • Paul Stout, MD

      Arkansas Pathology Associates

    • Kym Koch-Thompson

      Koch Communications

    • Evan Vincent

      Attorney, Crowe & Dunlevy

    • Julie Strebel-Hager, MD

      (OSMA Pres-Elect)

    • Judy Goforth, PhD/RN

    • Kristi R. Weaber

      Mayfield Law Firm

    • Garland Wilkinson

      Executive VP/Chief Operating Officer, MidFirst Bank

    • Our History

      Before 1940

      1818 – The first recorded successful human-to-human blood transfusion is performed by British obstetrician Dr. James Blundell, to treat a postpartum hemorrhage.

      1901 – ABO blood types are discovered by biologist Karl Landsteiner.

      • depiction of blood transfusion

    • Our History

      1940s

      Dr. Charles Drew, an African American physician and medical researcher, revolutionizes blood banking by establishing large-scale blood banks, bloodmobiles and plasma processing for the war effort. Drew also fought strenuously against the segregation of blood supplies by race.

      1940 – The Rh blood group is discovered, adding to the blood typing available to develop the system we know today.

      1949 – Our Amarillo blood center is charted as a nonprofit corporation in Texas, under the name Potter County Memorial Blood Center.

      • Dr. Charles Drew

    • Our History

      1950s

      1950 – The plastic blood bag is introduced to transfusion medicine, replacing fragile glass bottles that were used previously.

      • Blood Bag

    • Our History

      1960s

      1965 – The Amarillo blood center is renamed to Coffee Memorial Blood Center, after James Robert Coffee, MD. a promising young physician from Amarillo, Dr. Coffee died just before his 22nd birthday from a hemorrhagic condition.

      • Coffee Memorial Blood Institute History

    • Our History

      1970s

      1976 – Oklahoma Blood Institute is incorporated by the Oklahoma County Medical Society, after local physicians recognize the need to improve the community’s blood-related health care services.

      1977 – We begin operations as a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) blood center, with donation centers in Oklahoma City and Lawton that serve 35 local hospitals.

      • Oklahoma County Medical Society

    • Our History

      1980s

      1981 – We become self-sufficient in blood supply, with local donors able to provide enough blood to keep shelves stocked at member hospitals.

      1989 – OBI is established as the donor center for the National Marrow Donor Program, to help save the lives of patients with life-threatening blood and bone cancers and blood diseases.

      • Dr. Robert O. Gilcher
      • blood donation
      • nurses sorting blood bags
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      • Our History

        1990s

        1991 – OBI becomes the first blood center in the nation to implement the additional AIDS-screening test for the HIV-1 antigen.

        1995 – We deliver an additional 900 blood products to hospitals before victims arrived from the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Oklahomans responded by donating to help rebuild the blood supply after the tragedy.

        • Murrah Bombing

      • Our History

        2000s

        2001 – OBI flies blood to New York City to assist with the emergency response to the September 11 attacks, the first blood center in the nation to do so. Nearly 7,500 units of blood were donated in the three days following the attack.

        2004 – The Texas Blood Institute is formed, supplying blood products to eight Texas hospitals in five counties around Wichita Falls.

        2008 – We establish Global Blood Fund, a charitable organization that works to improve the availability and safety of blood in some of the world’s poorest nations.

        • Blood transported to air national guard

      • Our History

        2010 - Present

        2014 – Opened Oklahoma’s first umbilical cord blood bank.

        2015 – We add to our footprint in Arkansas, opening a donor center in Little Rock to better serve Arkansans in the area.

        2016 – Oklahoma Blood Institutes welcomes Coffee Memorial Blood Center in Amarillo into the organization. This blood center, which was established in 1965 and named for a local physician, retains its name and history of serving the High Plains area.

        2020 – We launch convalescent plasma collections to help critically ill COVID-19 patients, collecting more than 20,000 units from local donors.

        • Plasma bag
        • convalescent plasma
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        Research & Innovation

        As medicine and the needs of patients evolve, so do we. We advance the science of blood banking by conducting research, developing innovative technology solutions and connecting potential research subjects with studies available in their area.

        More on OBI's Research Efforts

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