The Southwest Washington Blood Program of Puget Sound Blood Center recently opened its new, permanent, state-of-the-art donor center in Vancouver, Washington.  Please drop by and take a look around the new facility, located just east of Westfield Vancouver mall at 9320 NE Vancouver Mall Drive, Suite 100.

Southwest Washington Blood Program was created by Puget Sound Blood Center to address the community's growing need for blood and medical services in the southwest region of Washington State.  Puget Sound Blood Center began serving the Southwest Washington region in 1995.  The Blood Program is based in Vancouver, Washington and serves Clark and Cowlitz Counties.

Over recent years the Blood Program has provided more units of red blood cells to the hospitals in Clark and Cowlitz counties than have been collected locally.  During the past year, ending June 2006, the Blood Program provided nearly 11,000 units of blood to patients at Southwest Washington Medical Center, St. John and Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital.  The Blood Program collected nearly 4400 units from donors in the region.  "The Southwest Washington Blood Program will allow Puget Sound Blood Center to better serve the community," said Richard Counts, M.D., president and CEO of the Blood Center. "Over the past five years the need for blood has grown beyond the amount collected here. The Southwest Washington Blood Program will allow us to address this disparity and continue our mission of providing the community with a stable and available blood supply."

It seems to be working.  Annual donor registrations have increased by nearly 3000 over the past two years.

The Blood Program is working to make donating in our community even more convenient.

An exciting part of the new Blood Program is a state-of-the-art bloodmobile exclusively dedicated to managing blood collection operations blood in Southwest Washington.  At 40' long, the new bloodmobile was designed to provide maximum comfort and accessibility.  The exterior design of the bus is eye-catching -- blue skies surrounding a child imagining a better world.

The Blood Program schedules blood drives in the community four to six times a week, or approximately 20-30 drives per month.

• Locate a Blood Drive in the SW Washington Region

For those interested in learning more about scheduling a blood drive or have questions about donating blood, please contact Jeff Carrick, phone: 360-567-4808.