Hospitals to drop local blood bank

For years, Sonoma County blood donors remained off limits to the San Francisco-based Blood Centers of the Pacific.

The industry norm prevented the center from collecting blood in a community where it was not partnered with a hospital.

On Monday afternoon, St. Joseph Health System announced it had awarded the San Francisco center a contract to supply blood to Santa Rosa Memorial and Petaluma Valley hospitals.

The move ends a 60-year relationship between St. Joseph and Blood Bank of the Redwoods, a Santa Rosa-based center that until now provided Memorial and Petaluma Valley with about 9,000 units of red blood cells and 800 units of platelets each year.

Blood Bank of the Redwoods President and CEO Cathy Bryan blasted St. Joseph's decision and said she feared a new competitive environment would cause confusion and discourage possible blood donors.

St. Joseph officials said their decision to go with Blood Centers of the Pacific is aimed at reducing costs at the Santa Rosa and Petaluma hospitals, where the "per patient adjusted" cost for blood was a little more than $25, compared with $15 to $20 at its nearest hospitals in Napa and Eureka.

Thomas McHugh, director of laboratory services at St. Joseph's local facilities, would not say exactly how much money will be saved by going with Blood Centers of the Pacific.

"It's a significant savings, but we're not quantifying for the public how much it is," McHugh said. "We're looking for a long-term, collaborative relationship to hopefully drive down costs while maintaining quality."

Bryan said Blood Bank of the Redwoods' fees are competitive in the Northern California market, and aggressive attempts have been made to keep annual fee increases to a minimum. The St. Joseph contract represented about $3.5 million in revenue for the blood bank, or about 25 percent of its annual revenue stream.

"The decision to change blood providers by St. Joseph Health System-Sonoma County truly is regrettable," Bryan said.

Bryan previously stated that the loss of the contract with St. Joseph would pose a serious financial challenge. She said Monday that the products St. Joseph will no longer buy from her center likely will be sold to surrounding blood centers struggling to meet the needs of their communities.

Bryan said the loss of the center's largest buyer will not affect its relationships with other local hospitals, including Healdsburg District Hospital, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Palm Drive Hospital, Sonoma Valley Hospital, Sutter Medical Center in Santa Rosa and Sutter Lakeside Hospital, among others.

"I don't foresee that our customers will have any kind of burden," Bryan said.

But she said new competition for local blood donors, an increasingly small segment of the population, could actually have a negative effect on the local blood supply.

"Blood donors will not want to be fought over," Bryan said. "We are the community blood center, and we are concerned about the blood donors being put in the middle of this issue."

Richard Harveston, director of hospital services for Blood Centers of the Pacific, said many communities are serviced by more than one blood bank.

"The number one reason people say they don't donate is inconvenience," Harveston said. "To have more donation opportunities in a community is, in fact, a good thing, if handled responsibly."

The nonprofit Blood Centers of the Pacific, an affiliate of the giant Arizona-based Blood Systems, serves 40 hospitals in Northern California, including medical centers in Napa, Willits, Clearlake and Ukiah.

It will begin supplying blood to Memorial and Petaluma hospitals July 30, a day after St. Joseph's contract with Blood Bank of the Redwoods ends.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 521-5213 or martin.espinoza@

pressdemocrat.com.