NCMC Blood Donor Center plans donor recognition wall
GREELEY, Colo. (Dec. 5, 2008) — The Blood Donor Center at North Colorado Medical Center will honor high-volume blood donors with a new 14-foot display in the hospital.
The staff plans to unveil the donor recognition wall right outside the Blood Donor Center at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9. Many of the high-volume donors have been invited to attend.
Blood Donor Services purchased the new display with $16,000 received from NCMC’s Volunteer Services department. Heather Hemesath, blood donor recruitment coordinator, said they purchased the display to give more recognition to people who have donated large amounts. The current donor wall gives the same recognition to all volunteers regardless of amount.
The new wall lists donors who have given two gallons or more. Those who have given 10 gallons or more will have their names engraved on plaques for the display.
NCMC currently has 3,022 people who have donated two gallons or more, as well as an additional 1,500 who are one-gallon donors.
The donor recognition also has a new home. Heather said locating the display outside the center in a main hallway will make it more visible. People may be more likely to see it and give or to continue giving.
The need for volunteer blood donations is significant at NCMC. Each year, Blood Donor Services supplies more than 10,000 units of blood to help approximately 9,000 patients at NCMC, McKee Medical Center, Sterling Regional Medical Center and East Morgan County Hospital. Volunteer blood donors provide approximately 90 percent of those units.
In 2007, the Blood Donor Center collected 9,029 red blood cell units and 710 platelets units. The price to purchase one red blood cell unit is approximately $229 with platelets costing $639 per unit. In total volunteer blood donors saved NCMC and our patients more than $1.2 million.
For more information about Tuesday’s unveiling of the donor wall, or to arrange for an interview, please call Sara Quale at (970) 635-4031 or Gene Haffner at (970) 350-6133.
ABOUT NORTH COLORADO MEDICAL CENTER
North Colorado Medical Center is a fully accredited, private, not-for-profit facility licensed to operate 398 beds. It serves as a regional medical center with community-based and specialty services in a service area including southern Wyoming, western Nebraska, western Kansas and northeastern Colorado. A family-centered obstetrics unit, cardiovascular, oncology, ortho/neuro, Level II trauma, Western States Burn Center and acute inpatient rehabilitation are among the many services offered through the medical center. Nearly 400,000 square feet of new patient care space was added to the northern Colorado region when the NCMC opened an expanded facility in December 2005. Included is the CardioVascular Institute of North Colorado featuring state-of-the-art heart services; expanded birthing center and neonatal care unit, new intensive care units and new surgical suites.
ABOUT BANNER HEALTH
Based in Phoenix, Banner Health is one of the largest, not-for-profit health care systems in the country. Banner has 20 facilities that offer an array of services including hospital care, home care, hospice care, nursing registries, surgery centers, laboratories, rehabilitation services. These facilities are located in seven states - Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, and Wyoming. In addition to emergency and medical services, Banner Health medical centers house a variety of specialized services, including heart care, cancer treatment, delivery of high-order multiple births, organ transplants, bone marrow transplants, rehabilitation services, and behavioral health services.
For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com.
