TBI and NWTS to serve surgeons and hospitals by supplying transplantable tissues

TBI/Tissue Banks International, one of the nation's largest eye and tissue banking networks, and Northwest Tissue Services (NWTS), a Puget Sound Blood Center program, have entered into a partnership that will allow both organizations to more efficiently serve surgeons and hospitals that rely on them for transplantable tissue.

The partnership, which is effective immediately, allows TBI to distribute tissue recovered and processed by NWTS in TBI's California and New England service areas, and gives NWTS the ability to distribute tissue recovered and processed by TBI and its National Processing Center throughout their service area in Washington, Idaho, and Montana. This partnership will yield enhanced customer service to medical facilities that can now order more of their allograft tissue from a single local source.

"This agreement brings two strong organizations to a higher level," said James Forsell, Ph.D., TBI Senior Vice President for Processing. "We look forward to a productive partnership with NWTS. This successful collaboration will allow us to maximize the strengths of our organizations and enable us to provide more efficient, streamlined services in our respective regions."

"By combining strengths -- NWTS's strength in osteoarticular and fresh grafts in particular, and TBI's strength in spinal grafts -- both of our organizations are better positioned to serve our ultimate customer: the tissue recipient whose health and hope can be restored through transplantation," said NWTS Director Jorge Duran.