Our Mission

In August 1947, Jackson Medical Laboratory and Blood Bank first opened its doors on the second floor of 607 Highland Avenue in Jackson, Tennessee. Business partners Jack and Martha Smythe and Ruby Warner gleamed with pride with their two other employees as they began their new adventure. Dr. Kelly Smythe, long time family physician in Bemis, was on hand to support his son, Jack, and oversee the operation. This opening was synonymous with the founding meeting of the American Association of Blood Banks in Dallas, Texas. Jack Smythe was at the meeting in Dallas and became a founding member. A sterile glass vacuum bottle had recently been approved by the Food and Drug Administration with an anticoagulant/preservative for the purpose of collecting Whole Blood, Human. The closed system and improved anticoagulant made it possible for the first time to store blood for transfusion in a refrigerator for 21 days.

Four small Jackson hospitals were the Blood Center’s first customers. In 1950, the Food and Drug Administration approved the Blood Center’s application for a federal license to distribute whole blood and its components in the United States. In the 1960’s, the Blood Center purchased its first bloodmobile - a used Trailways bus.

In 1972, the Blood Center was sold to a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization governed by a volunteer board of directors. The name was changed to West Tennessee Regional Blood Center, Inc., dba LIFELINE. LIFELINE is a member of the American Association of Blood Banks, America’s Blood Centers, and Blood Centers of America. It is licensed by the Tennessee Department of Public Health and operates under U.S. license number 170, granted by the Food and Drug Administration.

Today, LIFELINE provides blood services to 21 West Tennessee counties and two regional areas.

Annually, the Center collects approximately 26,000 blood products (red cell units, platelets, plasma, etc.) to meet the needs of patients. Of that total, 75% of those products are collected on the bloodmobiles. LIFELINE also provides reference lab and cross-matching services to healthcare facilities.

So far in 2024 we have saved 21,071 lives. This is possible because of our generous blood donors coming into our centers and coming to our mobile blood drives.