History

Early in 1947, two Stockton women died on succeeding days because no blood was available for transfusion. Dr. Donald C. Harrington, who was attending one of the women, was bitterly frustrated when he realized his 18-year-old patient would have been saved if a blood donor had been available. The next day, Dr. Neill P. Johnson treated the second woman at St. Joseph's Hospital, a young wife who died for the same reason: lack of available blood. 

Those two deaths triggered a chain of events that led first to the formation of the Stockton Regional Blood Center in February, 1948, and then to the establishment of Delta Blood Bank in June 1954. 

The original blood bank of the late 1940's, operated by the San Joaquin County Chapter of the American Red Cross, was a huge step forward in supplying the community with desperately needed blood. This was a far cry from the efficiently operated, scientifically sophisticated blood center that Delta Blood Bank has become in the past 50 years. 

Dedicated men and women, who work diligently and unselfishly, make Delta Blood Bank what it is today, a community and volunteer blood center serving all patients who need transfusion support. 

About Delta Blood Bank

• A non-profit community Blood Center serving 18 hospitals in four Central California counties: Calaveras, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tuolumne. The Blood Center is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
• A blood center that maintains an inventory of approximately 1800 - 2200 units of blood at any given time. About 250 donors are needed daily to meet the needs of area patients. The Blood Bank drew over 56,000 units of blood in 2006. It is anticipated that 58,000 donations are needed in 2007. 
• A community organization whose mission is to collect, process, store and distribute the safest possible blood and blood components to every patient who needs a transfusion whenever they need it. Delta Blood Bank operates with the best equipment used by well-trained staff, where the well being of both the blood donor and recipient is the prime objective. The blood center provides its life-saving service in the most cost effective manner possible.
• Licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the State of California Department of Health Services. Delta Blood Bank is accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks and is a member of the California Blood Bank Society, America's Blood Centers and Blood Centers of California.