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United Blood Services Part Of Vitalant Name Change

Blood Systems announced Monday that its 10 blood center brands, including the United Blood Services, will unite under a new name: Vitalant. The change may mean more services for Arizona residents.

Vitalant serves 40 states across the country, including Arizona, with 127 donation centers nationwide and 30,000 mobile blood vans.

David Green, Vitalant president and CEO, said the change was necessary.

“We determined that a single name and single identity was crucial for us to leverage the skills that we have across the country for all the communities that we serve," Green said.

Dr. Ron Waeckerlin, the chairman of the newly named organization’s board, says the nonprofit lives by what are called the "RITE" values.

“Which stands for: respect, integrity, teamwork and excellence. And we are working very, very hard to make sure that all 5,500 of our employees embrace not only those values but our corporate culture of providing a safe and adequate blood supply," Waeckerlin said. 

Green said the unification under Vitalant, based in Scottsdale, is the beginning of a long-term plan. He said Arizona residents will be seeing signs changed across the state, and more services eventually offered. 

Ariana Bustos was an intern at KJZZ in 2018.