Published by Kirby Winn on Tuesday, June 18, 2019 in Archive
(June 18, 2019 | Davenport, Iowa) – Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center (MVRBC) has been selected by Mercy to provide blood and blood components to five of the health system’s hospitals. MVRBC currently serves Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Festus, Missouri and will add additional locations under the new contract, effective July 1, 2019. MVRBC is a not-for-profit community blood center founded in 1974 and based in Davenport, Iowa. Beginning July 1, 2019, MVRBC will add the following Mercy facilities as full-service locations:
Mercy Hospital Lincoln (Troy, Missouri)
Mercy Hospital South (St. Louis, Missouri)
Mercy Hospital St. Louis (St. Louis, Missouri)*
Mercy Hospital Washington (Washington, Missouri)*
*Primary external supplemental provider to Mercy Blood Donor Services at Mercy Hospital St. Louis and Mercy Hospital Washington
“Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center has proven itself to be a reliable partner in providing the blood supply for Mercy Hospital Jefferson,” said Matthew Posinski, Vice President, Regional Laboratory Services for Mercy. “We are grateful to MVRBC and donors who give blood for providing a safe, high-quality blood supply we can rely on.”
“We appreciate this opportunity to expand on our existing service to Mercy,” said Mike Parejko, Chief Executive Officer of MVRBC. “We look forward to working with our new Mercy partners and affiliates to support the community blood supply.”
The Blood Center will begin scheduling local blood drives. “Community support is essential to ensuring a strong and stable blood supply for the hospitals we serve,” said Amanda Hess, MVRBC’s Director, Donor and Public Relations. “We are fortunate to work with generous volunteer blood donors and mobile blood drive hosts throughout our service region and look forward to making new connections.”
Blood donations are often used to help treat patients with cancer, victims of trauma and patients undergoing major surgeries. All persons age 17 and up (or 16, with a signed parental permission form) who weigh at least 110 lbs. and are in general good health meet the basic eligibility requirements for blood donation. For more information about Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center, how to get involved or eligibility to become a volunteer blood donor, call the Blood Center at (800) 747-5401 or visit www.bloodcenter.org.
About Mercy
Mercy, named one of the top five large U.S. health systems in 2016-2019 by IBM Watson Health, serves millions annually. Mercy includes more than 40 acute care, managed and specialty (heart, children's, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, 900 physician practices and outpatient facilities, 45,000 co-workers and 2,400 Mercy Clinic physicians in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. For more information, visit mercy.net.
Blood Donors Save Lives: Meet Kelsey Gaby
Blood donations are often used to help treat patients with cancer, patients needing surgery, and victims of trauma. Kelsey Gaby (right), a local nursing student, received multiple blood transfusions after suffering serious injuries in a car accident at age 16. “Blood donors helped save my life,” says Gaby. “You never know when someone might need a lifesaving blood transfusion. That’s why I encourage everyone who can give blood to please consider donating.” Having recovered from her injuries after multiple surgeries and a lengthy process of rehabilitation, Gaby is now a college student pursuing a career in nursing.
About Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center
Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center (MVRBC), based in Davenport, Iowa, serves 95 hospitals in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin, as well as resource sharing partners across the country. The 501(c)(3) not-for-profit blood center was established in 1974 and operates as Central Illinois Community Blood Center (Springfield, Illinois) and Community Blood Services of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana, Illinois). The Blood Center’s service region extends from southwestern Wisconsin to St. Louis, Missouri and from Danville, Illinois to Albia, Iowa, an area with a population of more than 4-million residents. (See p. below for a map of the MVRBC service region.)
For more information, see www.bloodcenter.org and visit the Blood Center’s social media channels: www.facebook.com/mvrbc, www.twitter.com/willyougive, and www.instagram.com/willyougive/.
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