The American Red Cross is currently facing its worst blood shortage in over a decade, causing a concerning risk to patient care.
Amid this crisis, doctors have been forced to make difficult decisions about who receives blood transfusions and who will need to wait until more products become available, according to a press release from the Red Cross.
Concerning the Corvallis community, Christopher Bell, the Vice President of Operations for Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, said, “Samaritan has implemented measures to actively stabilize the blood supply locally. We are increasing our communication throughout and between our five hospitals and working together to ensure we maintain a safe blood supply.”
Blood and platelet donations are critically needed to help prevent further delays in vital medical treatments.
“All blood types are needed; this is a severe shortage affecting all blood types,” said Bell. “If you can do so, please sign up to donate.”
Across the nation, the Red Cross said they’re experiencing a 10% decline in the number of people donating blood since the beginning of the pandemic and continue to confront pandemic-related issues, including ongoing blood drive cancellations and staffing limitations. Adding to the concern is the surge of COVID-19 cases.
“There are several factors involved in this current shortage, but patients with COVID are not one of the causes,” said Bell. “It is a combination of canceled blood drives due to factors related to COVID, an increase in demand from hospitals in the winter months, and changes in the labor market nationally. We are hopeful that many of these issues will be resolved in the coming weeks to months.”
The Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center will be hosting a blood drive on Feb. 3 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
By: Jennifer Boyer
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