Transfusion Medicine/Blood Bank

Transfusion Medicine/Blood Bank is open 24 hours a Day, 7 days a week; Call TM/Blood Bank Services (804) 828-0256

The Transfusion Medicine Service supports a busy, level one trauma center, as well as active liver, cardiac, pediatric cardiac, neonatal, bone marrow transplant and hematology/oncology programs. It also supports an on site Apheresis Unit which provides therapeutic apheresis, photopheresis,  and peripheral blood stem cell collection.

24 Hours a Day - 7 Days a Week 
As a full service blood bank transfusion medicine department, we operate 24 hours a day seven days a week. We are dedicated to providing blood and blood products according to the highest standards of patient care and to assure compliance with regulatory agencies. We also provide transfusion management support to health care providers at our institution and in the community as well as throughout Virginia.  We are located on the 6th floor of the Gateway Building, at the corner of 12th and E. Marshall Street in Richmond, VA.

Information regarding visitor and valet parking is available online.

Additional parking information is available on the web from VCU Parking and Transportation Services: Complete parking information including the most current maps and contact information.

Testing 

Testing is performed on patient samples to assure compliance with regulatory agencies through our active Quality Assurance Program. The Quality Program monitors system essentials that assure the safety, potency, and purity of blood as defined by the:

• Food and Drug Administration (FDA) American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) College of American Pathologists (CAP) International Standards Organization (ISO) Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA)
• Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO)

In addition to routine testing, in our special studies lab we perform complete antibody identifications on patients with routine, complex, and multiple antibodies from a diverse patient population, including sickle cell and oncology patients, and patients with warm auto antibodies.

Education and Training 

Education and training of medical technology students and residents in all aspects of blood banking, transfusion medicine, and laboratory procedures is an important endeavor in the lab. VCU offers a master's degree with a specialization in blood banking. Upon completion of the curriculum, students are eligible to take a national certification exam in the area in which they performed their concentrated study. For more information, please contact Teresa S. Nadder, PhD, MLS(ASCP)CM, Chairman and Associate Professor.

Research

The faculty members in Transfusion Medicine are engaged in several major research projects. The RedeS study is a study designed to examine transfusion of pathogen reduced red blood cells, as there are currently no FDA-approved pathogen reduced red blood cell products available for use in the United States. The PassItOn study is a study designed to examine transfusion of COVID-19 convalescent plasma. The Apheresis unit supports several studies of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T (CAR-T) cells. In addition, members of the Transfusion Medicine team regularly publish in the transfusion literature and present at national meetings. 

Location

Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Pathology
The Gateway Building, 6th Floor 
1200 East Marshall Street
PO Box 980231
Richmond, Virginia 23298-0662 
Main Lab Phone: (804) 828-0256
Fax: (804) 828-0876

Transfusion Medicine Quality Assurance

Mission: Our mission is to serve our customers safely, efficiently, and effectively while also striving to share and expand our scientific and leadership expertise.

Vision: The vision of Transfusion Medicine is to provide nationally recognized leadership in the rapidly changing field of immunohematology by ensuring the highest level of safety and effectiveness through enhancing organizational and community standards, employee enrichment, and contributing significantly towards universal transfusion and apheresis knowledge and practices.

To that end, we have established a comprehensive program of Quality Assurance in order to significantly decrease errors, enhance our credibility, comply with regulatory agencies, reduce costs and improve our productivity, product safety and quality.

Our Quality Assurance Program incorporates Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) to assure blood product safety, potency, and purity. Other benefits include:

• Continuous process improvement
• Coordination of intra & interdepartmental processes. 

Our Program serves as a model for other labs and hospital departments and forms the basis for future enhancement to ISO-9000 QA. It is promoted by the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB).

In addition to our Quality Assurance Program, we strive daily to achieve our goals in Patient Care, Education, Research and Service: 

Patient Care: 

• Show dignity and respect to all patients
• Give support to patient’s families and friends
• Be responsive to patient needs
• Maintain confidentiality of patient information
• Show compassion

Education: 

• Lead in latest technology
• Inspire scientific curiosity
• Promote professional growth
• Be open to all: leaders, teachers, students, and participants

Research: 

• Participate
• Cooperate
• Institute multi-disciplinary, multi-facility projects
• Share findings by contributing to the scientific literature

Service: 

• Fiscally responsible
• Consistent in meeting our patients needs
• Professional in manner
• Courteous and friendly
• Receptive to ideas for improvement
• Open communication
• Excel in efficiency and effectiveness

We are one team moving forward toward the same goals; always remembering that the patient is the ultimate beneficiary of our shared values and quality improvement within Transfusion Medicine. 

The Blood Management and Reduction Program

The program is based on a scientific, evidence-based, and multi-disciplinary tactic that is focused on improving patient safety and quality outcomes through promoting the optimal use of blood products. It is designed to ensure that each and every transfusion is appropriate, safe, and efficient in using resources to include blood products and components, healthcare providers’ time, laboratory testing, medical supplies, and healthcare dollars.
                 
The program is an approach that is data driven, systems oriented, and patient centered. It aims at improving patient outcomes through reducing unnecessary and inappropriate transfusions leading to a decrease in complications, serious adverse events, inpatient length of stay, and readmission. The goals of the program are achieved by managing pre-operative anemia, adopting minimally invasive procedures, minimizing blood volume sampling, appropriate transfusion triggers, and proper usage of blood products.

The program demonstrates the hospital’s pursuit for evidence-based care and ensures that the life-saving gift of a blood donation is used appropriately and responsibly. It encompasses all aspects of patient evaluation and clinical management surrounding the transfusion decision-making process to include the application of appropriate indications, minimization of blood loss, and optimization of patient red-cell mass.
Utilizing the standards of blood management enables the organization to provide care for a large population of patients who refuse receiving blood products. The advanced technology and instrumentation used in the operating room and the availability of alternatives to blood products increase patient safety and improve outcomes.  

Contact Information

Dr. Kimberly Sanford
Pager # 8762
804-828-2745
kimberly.sanford@vcuhealth.org 

Leadership and Contacts

Director of Apheresis: Susan D. Roseff, MD
Director of Transfusion Medicine: Kimberly W. Sanford, MD