[4][5][6][1] Bloodworks Northwest was founded in 1944 as the King County Central Blood Bank.

Bloodworks Northwest also partners with western Washington hospitals to collect and preserve umbilical cord blood from new mothers, which are harvested for stem cells used in research and cancer treatment.

The cord blood program was initiated in 1998 with a start-up grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

[9] In addition to its blood transfusion programs, Bloodworks Northwest also operates a hematology research institute.

The Bloodworks Northwest Research Institute is housed in a facility in the Eastlake neighborhood of Seattle.