Justin Gonzalez, Mission freshman, donates blood for the KU Blood Drive in September inside the Kansas Union vessel. Blood drives in Lawrence will be increasing because of the Lawrence Community Blood Center's recent closing.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Chuck Cordt arrived at the Lawrence Community Blood Center to give blood for the 485th time when he found it had closed its doors.
Where to donate
Overland Park Center 10568 Metcalf Ave. Mon. - Thurs. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. Fri. 8 a.m. -3 p.m. Sat. and Sun. 8 a.m. - noon
Olathe Center 1463 E. 151st St. Mon. - Thurs. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. Fri. 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. Sat. 8 a.m. - noon
Topeka Center 800 SW Lane Mon. - Thurs. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. Fri. 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. Sat. and Sun. 8 a.m. - noon Sun. - platelets only
Almost every month since 1984, Cordt had sat through apheresis, which removes only platelets from the blood and puts the other blood components back into the donor. This process allows donors to give blood once a month, which is far more often than the usual six to eight weeks required between whole blood donations.
It came as a surprise to find the door to the blood center locked after arriving for his usual appointment time. Only after calling the center’s number did he find out the Community Blood Center had permanently closed its Lawrence location a couple of weeks earlier.
“They said the Topeka office was supposed to have called everybody and told them,” he said. “But I must’ve been taken off that list because I didn’t get a call, and they said they were sorry.”
Stann Tate, director of marketing for the center, said the reason for closing the Lawrence location was, in part, due to a decrease in blood demand in 2009. The major reason for the closing, however, was the economy.
“CBC has been proactively evaluating every aspect of its business model during the current economic slump,” he said in an e-mail. “Through this evaluation it was determined the Lawrence neighborhood donation center would be closed.”
Faith Nilhas, who coordinates the blood bank at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, said despite the closing, the hospital’s blood supply and availability would not be affected. Although many blood donations came from the Lawrence Center, the hospital receives many blood donations from the eight other Community Blood Centers in the region, including the nearest one in Topeka, located at 800 SW Lane.
“When we place an order for blood products from CBC, we don’t know where the blood has been collected,” she said. “Since they have several collection sites in the area as well as mobile blood drives, it could come from several places. We didn’t get our blood exclusively from the Lawrence site.”
Tate also said he thought the effect would be minimal for donors and receivers of blood. He said the center would increase mobile blood drives in Lawrence to accommodate for the loss of the center.
“Community Blood Center is a regional organization that serves nearly 3 million people,” he said. “Our staff is committed, as are our donors, to ensure we have an adequate supply of life-saving blood for patients in need.”
Cordt said driving to Topeka for his regular appointments made it more difficult to donate as often. Nevertheless, he said he was still dedicated to keeping his schedule as long as he could.
“It’s fairly easy to do if you’re not afraid of needles. It doesn’t take a super long time,” he said. “You realize that you’re actually saving lives — that they’re in desperate need. People forget about that until they actually need it themselves.”
— Edited by Jacob Muselmann
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