Bad Blood

Charles Rouault doesn't think much of an Orlando-based blood bank taking over the struggling South Florida Blood Banks. A pathologist and chief executive of nearby Broward-based Community Blood Centers of South Florida, he would have preferred that his troubled competitor dry up and go away.

But Rouault only got half of his wish.

Instead, as he describes it, "they collapsed, and an expansion-minded blood center in Orlando bought them for reasons only they can explain."

Anne Chinoda, chief executive of Orlando-based Florida Blood Centers, which acquired South Florida Blood Banks in February, has a different version -- and an explanation.

The competition for donors is heating up in south Florida.

Chinoda's non-profit, which operates in 22 counties and describes itself as the state's first blood center, moved into south Florida because it was asked to by South Florida Blood Banks board members and the hospitals it served, she says. "We felt that no supplier that was currently there could have enough blood available immediately," Chinoda says. "We did not encroach. We're only serving (the hospitals) that South Florida Blood Banks was serving."

Both directors acknowledge that in the blood business, the real competition is not for hospitals, but for the donors who provide it. Over the years, Rouault says, Community's share of the donor pool has grown in response to South Florida Blood's troubles, which included a whistleblower suit and a mounting financial crisis. Six years ago, Rouault says, his blood centers had no donors in Palm Beach County. Today, he says, the centers draw 40,000 to 45,000 donors a year. His non-profit operates in Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

In February, the 30-year-old Community Blood Centers opened a 20,000-sq.-ft. headquarters in Palm Beach County. The move, along with a new South Miami headquarters, anticipated the demise of the company's longtime rival. But, says Rouault, "we didn't anticipate that FBC would make this foray in south Florida." Now, he expects that Chinoda will look to recoup her $15-million investment in south Florida by fishing in Community's donor pool.

Chinoda believes that there is room for everybody, but she doesn't attempt to downplay the facts of the business. "It is what it is," she says. "We're going to be competing for donors."

Chinoda says the real goal for both operations should be to enlarge the pool, currently only 2% to 3% of the population. "I'm trying to expand the donor base, not just take away," she says.

But Rouault says that will be a hard sell. The area currently imports up to 15,000 units a year to meet demand. "If there were a large number of untapped donors, I should be fired," says Rouault. "We're getting to all of the donors who should be donors."

Tags: Southeast