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American Red Cross Statement Biomedical Services Restructuring November 15, 2004
Thursday, November 18, 2004 — An evaluation of American Red Cross Biomedical Services operations, Lines of Service, organizational culture, and structure indicate that changes are necessary in order to achieve our strategic priorities and maintain our core mission of providing lifesaving blood and blood products to those in need. To improve our alignment with the strategic direction of the overall organization, better focus on compliance and cost containment, and to maximize the use of our resources, we have initiated a restructuring of our field and headquarters organization. This restructuring will be implemented over the next few months and will include:
- Transitioning our Tissue Services to another non-profit tissue bank, Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation (MTF)
- Consolidating our National Testing Laboratories from nine to five
- Closing our four Area offices
- Developing 11 Divisions throughout the country that will consolidate functions common among all current Regions
- Maintaining 35 blood services Regions, which will focus on donors, the community, and hospital customer service
- Rebalancing our quality and regulatory areas within the headquarters staff to ensure activities are placed in the appropriate departments
- Broadening of the headquarters Medical Office to expand activities around scientific matters and leverage our relationships with academic and hospital partners
- Strengthening our Sales and Marketing function by putting mechanisms into place to increase customer satisfaction and product availability
This restructuring is a necessary fundamental change to our organization and should be completed by Spring 2005. These actions will affect the lives of many of our employees and their families. We will carry them out in a sensitive and dignified manner and we will make every effort to assist those affected by these changes.
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