New blood bank donation center opens doors in Santa Rosa

After three decades of drawing plasma at its large donation center in Bennett Valley, Blood Centers of the Pacific has relocated to a smaller location in west Santa Rosa, a move that reflects the ongoing consolidation of blood bank systems and the health care industry in general.

At 5,500 square feet, the new facility at 3505 Industrial Drive is less than one-third the size of the former BCP location on Bethards Drive in Bennett Valley. In recent years, the blood center has undergone a slew of mergers and consolidations that have eliminated both local laboratory and call center operations.

Prior to the move, it was only using about a third of its 16,000-square-foot blood center. The rest was mothballed.

'We're reacting to the changing dynamics of the health care industry,' said Kent Corley, BCP's local spokesman. 'But the community service aspect of blood donating is the same.'

Mergers in the blood banking industry have been largely driven by the consolidation of large hospital systems, such as Sutter Health and St. Joseph Health, Corley said, adding that these hospital giants increasingly bid for blood services on a system-wide basis.

'What hospitals have done is go to blood banks and requested system-sized bids for blood products,' Corely said.

Consolidation of the local blood-banking system sped up after Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, which is operated by St. Joseph Health, ended its 60-year relationship with Santa Rosa-based Blood Bank of the Redwoods and began purchasing blood products from Blood Centers of the Pacific. The decision was a cost-savings effort that resulted in $3.5 million loss for Blood Bank of the Redwoods.

Three years later, the local blood bank was acquired by San Francisco-based Blood Centers of the Pacific, which serves more than 50 hospitals in Northern California and is part of Blood Systems, one of the country's second-largest nonprofit blood suppliers. About six months later, in January 2012, BloodSource, a large regional company headquartered in Sacramento, entered the local market and began competing with Blood Centers of the Pacific.

That competition lasted until earlier this year, when Blood Centers of the Pacific merged with BloodSource, with both operations becoming part of Blood Systems, a Phoenix-area nonprofit blood collection organization that serves more than 700 hospitals in 24 states.

Corley said that while certain aspects of the blood-banking industry can become more regional, such as blood lab and call center services, the collection of blood will always be local.

'You still need the centers and you still need the donors,' Corley said.

On Friday morning, Matt Marshall, 31, of Santa Rosa sat reclined in a gurney, his left arm connected to a platelet apheresis machine. Marshall, who works as an EMT on an ambulance team, said he tries to give blood once a month and has been doing so for about a year.

He first started donating blood and blood platelets after taking an anatomy class at Santa Rosa Junior College. His instructor encouraged all his students to donate. Marshall said as an EMT worker, he sees firsthand the need for blood.

'If you looked at the percentages of people who donate blood, it's probably a lot of health care workers,' he said.

Jessica Woodruff, a phlebotomist at the local blood bank, said many people don't realize how great a need there is for blood plasma and platelets. She said many are discouraged by a fear of the process.

'The No. 1 reason why people don't come in and donate is their fear of needles,' she said.

The new center allows donors to quickly register on a laptop computer, or online at home or work on the same day of their donation. To schedule an appointment to donate blood, visit www.bloodcenters.org or call 888-393-4483.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @renofish.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been revised to connect an inaccurate description of the new blood bank's location. It is in west Santa Rosa.