Since eliminating a number of regular donor clinics across the province, Canadian Blood Services (CBS) has decided to hold only blood plasma donor clinics. The closest such clinic to Elliot Lake is being set up in Sudbury this summer.
Judy Jones, associate director, Donor Recruitment - Plasma, CBS, provided more information about the new plasma donor centre in Sudbury, "Canadian Blood Services is opening a new plasma donor centre in Sudbury in summer of 2020. This is an important step in supporting the growing need for plasma for patient care. To prepare for the opening, the blood donor centre on Barrydown Road (Sudbury) marked its final day of operation at the end of January."
The new donor centre will be dedicated to the collection of source plasma, the blood component needed to make specialized medicines used in the treatment of patients with a variety of life-threatening conditions.
The Sudbury plasma donor centre will help provide a solution to increasing the demand for vital medicines needed by Canadians. This new centre will be located at 900 Lasalle Blvd.
After decades of blood donor collection clinics in the area, the last donor clinic in Elliot Lake was hosted at the Collins Centre on Nov. 12, 2019.
"Canadian Blood Services will be opening a proof-of-concept plasma donation centre in Sudbury. We are discontinuing the mobile blood donation events in the surrounding northern Ontario communities. While we understand this is a change for the generous blood donors, we are taking steps to increase the amount of plasma collected in Canada to meet rising patient demand,” CBS explained in a statement to ElliotLakeToday.
More information is available on the CBS website.