LifeNet Health on Thursday announced its expansion to the West Coast through the acquisition of Northwest Tissue Services, a department of the nonprofit Puget Sound Blood Center.

With the acquisition, the Virginia Beach nonprofit establishes LifeNet Health Northwest and adds 50 employees, bringing the total to more than 600 nationwide.

It's LifeNet's second subsidiary; the organization merged with Florida Tissue Services in 2007.

LifeNet plans to invest more than $1 million to upgrade the Seattle-area facility and bring new biomedical technologies, said Douglas Wilson, LifeNet's executive vice president.

He declined to disclose the terms of the acquisition.

Founded in 1982, LifeNet provides organ donation and tissue banking services.

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