Sample Page

OneBlood, Inc. is a not-for-profit blood bank serving the Southeastern U.S. states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Based in Orlando, Florida, it is designated as a 501(c)(3) organization.

The organization was formed in 2012, as a result of the merger of three Florida-based blood banks, upon which it became the state’s largest blood bank. Some local blood banks feared the merger would create a monopoly and drive up costs for blood. In 2015, it merged with the Jacksonville-based Blood Alliance, further expanding its service area.

Organization overview

A Big Red Bus in Tifton, Georgia

OneBlood serves the Southeastern United States and is based in Orlando, Florida.[4] With locations in the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina,[5][6] the organization services over 350 hospitals.[4] Designated as a 501(c)(3) organization,[7] the organization has regional offices in the Florida cities of Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, St. Petersburg, and Tallahassee.[3] Cliff Numark has served as OneBlood’s CEO since November 2025, when he succeeded George “Bud” Scholl, who announced his retirement earlier that year.[1] Prior to Scholl, Don Doddridge served as the organization’s CEO.[8]

The organization has been noted to seek donors by promoting on social media.[5] OneBlood accepts blood donations at their donation centers, but also notably operates several “Big Red Bus”-branded bloodmobiles.[3][9] These are mobile donation centers that drive out to community locations such as restaurants, city halls, or animal adoption centers, among others, to attract donors.[3][9] During the donation process, donors get screened for their vitals including blood pressure, pulse, temperature, iron count, and cholesterol.[10] Donors receive items such as coupons, e-gift cards, movie, tickets, or OneBlood-branded accessories and apparel.[9][10][11]

History

Founding

OneBlood was formed in January 2012,[8] as a result of merger of three independent Florida blood centers: Florida Blood Services, Florida’s Blood Centers, and Community Blood Centers of Florida.[12][13][14] Florida Blood Services included Polk County’s BloodNet USA.[13] The Orlando-based Florida’s Blood Centers (FBC) previously faced local criticism for excessive executive salaries; Orlando Sentinel reported that in 2011, FBC’s chief executive received a raise bringing her annual salary to $605,000, just two months prior to FBC laying off 42 employees.[15] The merger into OneBlood was “touted as a way to save money by streamlining operations”.[15]

Upon the formation of OneBlood, the organization supplied 80% of the blood in Florida,[13] becoming the largest blood bank in Florida’s history.[14] Some local organizations initially remained independent, such as the Winter Haven Hospital Community Blood Center in Winter Haven.[13] There was also pushback to the merger, including from the Suncoast Communities Blood Bank (SCBB) in the Sarasota area, which was fearful OneBlood “would create a monopoly and result in higher costs for blood”,[13] arguing the merger would “siphon off donors” and force them to buy some blood from a national exchange.[15] OneBlood’s chairman Rick Walsh disagreed with the notion that the merger would increase prices, arguing it would allow for centers to operate more efficiently.[13] Attorney General of Florida Pam Bondi allowed the merger to go through, creating the $360 million network.[15] In 2013, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune wrote that by mutual agreement between OneBlood and SCBB, the former did not use its marketing budget to “pick off” Sarasota donors.[15]

Merger with The Blood Alliance

Once having 21 community blood banks, by 2013, the state of Florida had just three.[15] In 2015, OneBlood merged with one of these three: The Blood Alliance, a Jacksonville-based operation that was established in 1942.[3] At the time, OneBlood’s service areas in Florida included Tampa Bay, Pensacola, Tallahassee, as well as the state’s South, Southeast, and Central regions, and parts of the Southwest region; the organization was also operating in Southern Georgia and Alabama.[3] The Blood Alliance’s service areas did not overlap, as they included Jacksonville, Southeast Georgia, and parts of South Carolina.[3] Talks of the two merging began two years prior and once agreed upon, the two organizations re-branded all locations under the OneBlood name.[3] At the time, OneBlood operated 70 donor centers and 200 bloodmobiles, with their blood and related products being distributed to over 210 hospitals.[3] The merger brought in 12 bloodmobiles that the Blood Alliance operated, as well as over 40 hospitals and medical agencies that they were distributing blood to.[3] After the merger, 90% of Florida’s blood donation needs were served by OneBlood, with only Sarasota (served by SunCoast) and the Gainesville and Lake City areas (served by LifeSouth) outside of the organization’s service area.[3] OneBlood has since however, opened a center in Gainesville in 2023,[16] and operates a center in Venice, Sarasota County.[17] They have also conducted blood drives in Sarasota,[18] including one partnership with the Baltimore Orioles.[19]

Pulse nightclub shooting

Following the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016, many health officials implored community members to donate blood to help those injured in the shooting.[20] Hundreds of people lined up to donate blood to help those injured in the shooting.[21] The day after the shooting, over 200 students lined up at the Big Red Bus that was on the campus of University of Central Florida (UCF). Overwhelmed by the amount of donors, the bus had to turn away around 120 of them.[22] The LGBTQ community initially appeared to be the target of the shooting, though many gay and bisexual men were unable to donate blood due to federal regulations prohibiting men who have had sex with men in the prior year from donating.[20] OneBlood issued a tweet disputing reports that they were allowing gay and bisexual men to donate, stating that all Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines were still being followed.[20] Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, a lab supervisor employed by the organization was killed in the shooting.[21] The perpetrator of the shooting was confirmed by OneBlood to have donated blood at a mobile blood drive in Ft. Pierce, Florida less than two weeks before the shooting.[21]

In 2024, OneBlood held a “Remembrance Day” blood drive in Orlando for the 49 victims of the shooting.[23]

COVID-19 pandemic

In 2020, various organizations partnered with or promoted OneBlood, and blood donations in general, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Florida, the pandemic caused unprecedented cancellations of blood drives, prompting the South Florida Region of the American Red Cross to partner with OneBlood to help prevent blood shortages during the outbreak.[24] Similarly, the Atrium Health network’s facilities in the greater Charlotte area also partnered with OneBlood during the pandemic.[25] Deborah German, the dean of the UCF College of Medicine also promoted information published by OneBlood regarding the donation of convalescent plasma, or blood plasma collected from those who recovered from COVID-19.[26]

2024 ransomware attack

In July 2024, the organization was affected by a ransomware attack that impacted its ability to ship blood products to hundreds of hospitals in Florida.[6][27] As a result, OneBlood had to manually label products to remain operational.[6] OneBlood did not disclose whether donors’ personal information, medical history, or other data was exposed in the attack.[27] The attack happened just as Hurricane Debby (then a tropical storm) threatened the state.[28] In response to the attack, other blood centers in the United States, as well as a national disaster task force sent blood and platelets to OneBlood to help with their supply.[4][28]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b “OneBlood Announces Cliff Numark as Next President, CEO”. Association for the Advacement of Blood & Biotherapies. September 25, 2025. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  2. ^ a b “Consolidated Financial Report – December 31, 2024” (Document). OneBlood. May 30, 2025. p. 4.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Scanlan, Dan (July 31, 2015). “Blood bank merger will save costs and improve services across 90 percent of Florida”. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  4. ^ a b c Czachor, Emily Mae (July 31, 2024). “Ransomware attack hits Florida blood donation center that services more than 350 hospitals”. CBS News. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  5. ^ a b Pedersen, Joe Mario (August 30, 2025). “Facing an ‘increased need,’ OneBlood calls to donors for help”. WUSF. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  6. ^ a b c Lyngaas, Sean (July 31, 2024). “First on CNN: Cyberattack hits blood-donation nonprofit OneBlood”. CNN. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  7. ^ “About Us”. OneBlood. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  8. ^ a b “Blood bank auditor claims she was fired for being whistle-blower”. Orlando Sentinel. August 6, 2021 [July 12, 2013]. Archived from the original on April 13, 2026. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  9. ^ a b c Maugeri, Steve (July 19, 2024). “OneBlood urges South Florida to donate to save lives, take advantage of incentives”. CBS Miami. CBS News. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  10. ^ a b Farrar, Aaron (April 4, 2026). “OneBlood hosting 2-day blood drive in Northeast Florida in honor of woman who died from sudden cardiac arrest”. News4Jax. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  11. ^ “Free movie tickets for OneBlood donators”. WTXL. January 2, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  12. ^ Bridges, C. A. (July 31, 2024). “OneBlood ransomware attack could affect Florida hospital blood shortages”. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. USA Today. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  13. ^ a b c d e f Adams, Robin Williams (January 31, 2012). “Florida Blood Centers Merge to Be OneBlood; Includes Polk’s BloodNet USA”. The Ledger. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  14. ^ a b Tracy, Dan (January 27, 2012). “Blood banks merge: Massic nonprofit OneBlood unveiled”. The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  15. ^ a b c d e f Koehn, Donna (January 20, 2013). “Sarasota blood bank ‘stronger than ever’. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  16. ^ “OneBlood Opens Gainesville Donor Center”. Gainesville Public Information Services. June 7, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  17. ^ “OneBlood – The Big Red Bus”. Venice Area Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  18. ^ “OneBlood hosts blood drives in Lakewood Ranch and Sarasota”. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. February 18, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  19. ^ “Orioles to Host Blood Drive at Ed Smith Stadium”. Sarasota Magazine. May 3, 2020. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  20. ^ a b c Mohney, Gillian (June 12, 2016). “Call for Blood Donors After Orlando Massacre Excludes Many Gay, Bisexual Men”. ABC News. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  21. ^ a b c Mohney, Gillian (June 15, 2016). “Orlando Gunman Donated Blood Less Than Two Weeks Before Shooting”. ABC News. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  22. ^ Medel, Shana (June 22, 2016). “Knights donate blood to Pulse shooting victims”. Statesman Journal. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  23. ^ Atkins, Tony (June 12, 2024). “OneBlood holding Pulse Remembrance Day blood drives downtown”. WESH. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  24. ^ “The American Red Cross Announces Partnership with OneBlood as Coronavirus Outbreak Threatens the Availability of Blood Supply”. American Red Cross. March 19, 2020. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  25. ^ “Atrium Health Partners with OneBlood to Host Community Blood Drives”. Atrium Health. March 26, 2020. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  26. ^ German, Deborah; Gibson, Jane (October 22, 2020). “If You’re A COVID-19 Survivor, Consider Donating Your Blood Plasma”. ucf.edu. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  27. ^ a b Beavins, Emma (August 5, 2024) [August 1, 2024]. “OneBlood hit with ransomware attack; state of donors’ data unknown”. Fierce Healthcare. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  28. ^ a b Bridges, C. A. (August 5, 2024). “Blood donations needed after Hurricane Debby as OneBlood recovers from ransomware attack”. The Florida Times-Union. USA Today Network. Retrieved April 12, 2026.