The Hawaii Cord Blood Bank: A Bank Without Walls

The Hawaii Cord Blood Bank is an independent, non-profit, collaborative community service organization involving a local partnership between the Blood Bank of Hawaii, area hospitals, and the Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry. The Hawaii Cord Blood Bank works in conjunction with the Puget Sound Blood Center in Seattle, Washington, where cord blood units collected in Hawaii are transported for processing and storage. Once banked, these units are registered on a computer database as belonging to the Hawaii Cord Blood Bank, and are universally available. Our mission is to help save the lives of patients in need of stem cell transplant by providing matched umbilical cord blood units for use in transplantation. Together we are transforming what is usually discarded into the hope for a second change for patients with life-threatening diseases.

Our History

The Hawaii Cord Blood Bank was founded in July of 1998 by Jana Hall, Ph.D. (Genetics), and Randal Wada, M.D. (Pediatric Hematology/Oncology). The program was initially piloted at the Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children, but is now also operating at the Queen's Medical Center and the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center. In the near future we hope to offer cord blood donation at Castle Medical Center. The hospitals already participating in the Hawaii Cord Blood Bank program deliver approximately 75% of the babies born on the island of Oahu, which has 75% of the State's population. This community based approach, and Hawaii's unique racial demographics, make Hawaii Cord Blood Bank a national model for a system of cord blood collection and banking that is truly capable of reflecting the full spectrum of ethnic diversity within the population it seeks to serve.

Funding Support

The founding and piloting of this "home grown" program was made possible by strong financial and other support from local sources. A large portion of the initial funding was provided by private donations. The Hawaii Cord Blood Bank owes a special debt of gratitude to Mrs. Emily O. Castle, whose generosity and commitment allowed the program to become a reality. Her support has been augmented by grants from local organizations, including the Kosasa Family Foundation, the Gannett Foundation, the Alana Dung Research Foundation, the Million Dollar Round Table Foundation, the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Hawaii, the Wakaba Kai Sorority at the University of Hawaii,a nd the Garmar Foundation. Subsequent to its birth, Hawaii Cord Blood Bank's growth continues to be nurtured by individual donations.

Other local support has taken the form of donated services. For example, ground and air transport of many of the collected cord blood units, as well as laboratory and administrative support, are provide by the Blood Bank of Hawaii. Administrative and operational support is provided from each one of the participating hospitals. In particular, Kapio'lani Medical Center, as the State's only teriary care facility for women and children, was well suited to serve as Hawaii Cord Blood Bank's initial site of operation, and continues as an effective advocate for the subsequent dissemination of the program. Initial computer support and web site design was donated by DataHouse. Graphic art services and brochure/logo design was graciously provided by Craig Tokumura, of Solid Concepts, Incorporated. C. Richard Fassier has donated several of his beautiful photographs of local children for our use. These multi-ethnic "Rainbow Kids" illustrate both our greatest challenge in terms of finding donors for our patients, as well as our greatest natural resource. Every day, towards this end, dozens of donor families, phyicians, nurses, and laboratory technicians add their commitment and aloha to build upon this broad foundation. Together, this grass roots effort has enabled Hawaii Cord Blood Bank to bring people in Hawaii and the world a second chance at life.