In the Pittsburgh region, major hospitals and other health care facilities rely on Centralized Transfusion Service (CTx) for the total provision of pre-transfusion testing, delivery of transfusion products, and expert medical consultation in transfusion medicine. In fact, we support some of the nation’s most renowned medical facilities providing advanced lifesaving treatments including:

• The world’s most active transplant center
• Two additional organ transplant centers
• A comprehensive cancer center designated by the National Cancer Institute
• Four bone marrow transplant programs
• Three major trauma centers
• Programs at academic medical centers, tertiary care facilities, pediatric hospitals, and community hospitals

CTx is internationally recognized as an industry leader for our expertise, innovation, and educational opportunities. We consult with blood centers or groups of hospitals to determine the ideal way to centralize transfusion services in their region. We help maximize resources and talent by providing a core team of transfusion medicine specialists to hospitals that may not otherwise have access to this expertise.

Our team has developed programs to ensure patient safety and care consistency. One of our accomplishments is the development of a system that enables a patient's transfusion history to follow him or her from hospital to hospital, tracking antibodies, transfusion reactions, and other special needs.

Finally, we support academic programs including a transfusion medicine post-doctoral fellowship, three pathology residencies, and two hematology/oncology fellowships. CTx also supports the blood-banking modules of two medical technologist schools.

Our integrated staff operates on-site at hospitals and off-site at central laboratory facilities. Facilitated by computerization and automated testing, our expert team rotates among all sites. CTx functions include compatibility testing, specialized serological testing, product preparation and issue, and medical support. Annual blood and component throughput for CTx includes more than 112,000 units of red blood cells and 200,000 units of other blood components.

Features of CTx include:

• Inventory Management
• Pre-transfusion Testing (e.g. compatibility testing)
• Preparation and Delivery of Transfusion Products
• Medical Consultation