Hospitals in the north of British Columbia, according to Canadian Blood Services, benefit greatly from the donations of people from other cities.
Residents of Prince George who were hopeful that Canadian Blood Services will reestablish a neighborhood blood donation facility are out of luck.
Since the Canadian Blood Services (CBS) donor center on Westwood Drive permanently shuttered its doors, the city has been without a blood donation clinic for the past eight years. The national non-profit organization has no intentions to return to Prince George.
The national supply fell 35% in December as a result of exceptionally cold weather across the nation mixed with the pandemic’s aftereffects, which kept 31,000 regular donors away from clinics. Prince George was unable to react to a public appeal for assistance.
Despite the Prince George Center closing, Gayle Boyer, associate director for donor relations for Canadian Blood Services in British Columbia, said there is no impact on hospitals in northern B.C. because there are enough supplies available, delivered from other blood collecting sites in the province.
Patients in the neighborhood are still receiving the blood and blood products they require at the nearby hospital, according to Boyer.
The blood is collected from permanent facilities in Vancouver, Victoria, and Kelowna as well as from a mobile clinic that travels to Kamloops, the nearest collection site to Prince George, once every four weeks.
Boyer is urging individuals to contribute stem cells to the federal registry and register for the province’s tissue/organ donation program even if Prince George no longer collects blood.
In order to collect money and promote its donor services, CBS also operates a Partners for Life community involvement program for volunteers around the province.
