Today, OBI is the tenth largest non-profit regional blood center in America. It projects a need for 220,000 units of blood a year and provides transfusion blood products and clinical services to 125 medical facilities in Oklahoma and north central Texas with the help of nearly 700 employees working with as many as 800 volunteers and 2,600 drive coordinators. In addition to its headquarters and laboratories, OBI maintains four donor centers in the Oklahoma City area with regional centers in Tulsa, Lawton, Enid, Ardmore, Ada and Ponca City. OBI also operates the Texas Blood Institute in Wichita Falls.

Established on January 1, 1977 by the Oklahoma County Medical Society, OBI  has been committed to four major goals from the beginning:

Maintaining a sufficient community blood supply
Providing specialized medical services
Educating community and medical leaders
Pioneering in blood-related research

Revenues for OBI's operation are derived from blood processing fees charged to the hospitals served. OBI's  processing fees, similar to those charged by all blood centers, recover the cost of recruiting donors and collecting, testing, storing and delivering blood to hospital patients. Special projects are funded through the generous contributions of area businesses, schools, foundations and individuals.

As an organization dependent on volunteer blood donors, the Oklahoma Blood Institute believes strongly in giving back to the community. OBI is able to offer a variety of services to the community, which  include providing multi-level educational opportunities, participating in health fairs and performing specialized testing to assist individuals in monitoring  their health.

Education

The Oklahoma Blood  Institute offers educational presentations to everyone from elementary school  children to physicians. OBI staff perform hundreds of educational lectures each  year on subjects such as donating blood, basic blood banking, HIV and other  blood-borne pathogens and transfusion medicine updates.

Tours and Health Fairs

Nearly 600  people tour the Oklahoma Blood Institute's main facility each year.  The OBI  tour includes an educational presentation followed by a walk through the  building for a closer look at how blood is drawn, processed, tested and stored.  OBI also participates in numerous health fairs and events each year, offering a  variety of services from providing information to special testing and health  screens.

Anti-HBs Test

As a service  to the community, OBI offers all police officers, fire fighters and health care  workers the Anti-HBs test at no charge. The test, which looks for antibodies to  the hepatitis B surface antigen, can help determine whether the hepatitis B  vaccine is providing adequate protection for the individual.