Grand Rapids: The Board of Trustees of Michigan Community Blood Centers recently accepted the resignation of Rosser L. Mainwaring, MD, and named a new Chairman of the Board, Joseph Mann, MD. Other officers selected included Richard D. Ullrey, chairman-elect; Thomas J. Weadock, secretary; and Philip H. McCorkle, Jr., treasurer.

A pioneer in blood banking, Dr. Mainwaring co-founded Michigan Community Blood Centers in 1955. From its beginnings in eastern Michigan, the organization has grown to serve hospitals in three large regions with a combined population of about 1.5 million. Dr. Mainwaring was instrumental in developing standards for blood testing, blood safety, and professional training and certification for medical technologists, which now are accepted across the U.S. His national leadership in the blood banking field included decades of service in committee and Board leadership with American Association of Blood Banks (now AABB), which has become the primary standard-setting organization in blood banking, as well as the American Society for Clinical Pathologists; he is a past president of both organizations. Dr. Mainwaring also helped develop RhoGam (Rh-immune globulin), a drug that helps prevent pregnant women with Rh-negative blood types from developing antibodies to the blood of an unborn child who may be Rh-positive; this drug has dramatically reduced the occurrence of potentially life-threatening complications arising from mother/child Rh-negative/Rh-positive incompatibilities. A faculty member at Wayne State University College of Medicine in Detroit for more than 40 years, Dr. Mainwaring also served Veterans Administration Hospital in Allen Park as pathology consultant (1954-1988), and Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn as director of laboratories (1954-1988) and chief of staff (1980-1983).

Dr. Mann is a longstanding member of the Michigan Community Blood Centers Board and also has served extensively on the Board of its regional center, based in Grand Rapids, that serves West Michigan. His career has included service as Director of Laboratories for Butterworth Hospital (now Spectrum-Butterworth) from 1955 to 1992; work as a practicing and consulting pathologist; research in hematology, blood banking, and genetics; and leadership in professional and scientific societies. He is a Fellow of the College of American Pathologists and the American Society of Investigative Pathology, as well as a Past President of the Michigan Association of Blood Banks and the Kent County Medical Society. He also was a recipient of the Blodgett-Butterworth Foundation’s Distinguished Physician Award.

Mr. Ullrey is CFO and CIO at Greenridge Realty, Inc., Grand Rapids. Mr. Weadock is vice president of Gardey Financial Advisors, Saginaw. Mr. McCorkle is president and CEO of Saint Mary’s Health Care, Grand Rapids.

Michigan Community Blood Centers provides 100 percent of the regular blood supply for all hospitals in three large regions of western, northwestern, and east-central Michigan.  With corporate headquarters in Grand Rapids, Michigan Community Blood Centers maintains donation centers, laboratories, and blood distribution services in Grand Rapids, Saginaw, and Traverse City, and conducts mobile blood drives throughout a 20-county area.

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