LifeServe Blood Center

Our Mission: We save lives in partnership with the communities we serve. Our Vision: Trusted by patients, sought by hospitals, favored by communities and chosen by employees.

We provide blood and blood products to hospitals in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. As one of the 15th largest blood centers in the country, LifeServe Blood Center provides blood and blood products to more than 90 hospitals located across Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. LifeServe Blood Center is committed to providing premier service to volunteer blood donors and access to a safe, quality blood supply for hospitals and patients. Every two seconds, someone, somewhere needs blood. Just one blood donation can impact the lives of up to three different hospital patients. At LifeServe Blood Center, we strive to help people every day; and in order to do that, we need blood donors every day. We need neighbors helping neighbors ? people who want to make an impact on a local level. Because at the end of the day, it's about achievement, it's about service and helping our communities. At the end of the day, it's about being a blood donor. Most importantly, it's about life. History of The Blood Center of Iowa: The concept of a centralized activity for the procurement of blood supplies for Central Iowans was originated by Mr. Ike Smalls in 1937. This Des Moines grocer single-handedly and with no financial assistance, established a donor referral service for the Des Moines hospitals. Eleven years later, when the need for blood products increased, four Des Moines hospitals formed the Polk County Blood Donor Service for the recruitment of donors. In 1961, the Polk County Medical Society, with support from the Polk County Osteopathic Physicians and the Des Moines Hospital Council, proposed that a community blood bank be established with the responsibility of recruitment, collection, processing and testing of blood products. In 1963, the Community Blood Bank of Central Iowa was incorporated. At that time, collections averaged 5,000 pints of blood per year. Prior to combining operations with Siouxland Community Blood Bank in 2010, The Blood Center of Iowa provided blood and blood products to 50 hospitals in Iowa and Nebraska and collected approximately 100,000 units of blood each year. History of Siouxland Community Blood Bank: The Siouxland Community Blood Bank (SCBB) was incorporated in 1967 in the State of Iowa as a charitable, not-for-profit organization through the cooperation of the Woodbury Medical Society and the four hospitals that existed in Sioux City at that time. In 1973, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established licensing for all SCBB blood products. In 1985, SCBB began performing the screening test for HIV was licensed and quickly implemented by blood banks across the country to protect the blood supply. Other advanced testing procedures soon followed. Most recently, SCBB began performing Nucleic Acid Testing at their own facility (instead of sending samples to an outside laboratory) in 2005. Prior to combining operations with The Blood Center of Iowa in 2010, Siouxland Community Blood Bank served 37 hospitals in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota and collected approximately 56,000 units of blood each year.