FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 6, 2005
CONTACT: Joyce Faria Brennan
Media Relations
Southcoast Health System
Phone: 508-961-5270
Fax: 508-961-5876
Pgr: 508-387-9605
brennanj@southcoast.org
www.southcoast.org/news/releases/
New extended hours at Southcoast Blood Bank at St. Luke’s Hospital
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The Southcoast Blood Bank at St. Luke’s Hospital has extended its
hours on Wednesday evenings and Saturdays.
The Blood Bank’s new hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
“We hope the extended hours will be more convenient for our donors and will make it easier for
more people to become donors,” said Nancy Chadbourne, Team Leader at the Southcoast Blood Bank. “It
is important to keep our local blood supply strong as we move into the winter holiday season when
donations tend to drop off.”
The Southcoast Blood Bank is located off the main lobby of St. Luke’s Hospital, 101 Page Street
in New Bedford, Mass. Walk-ins are welcome.
Free and convenient valet parking is available for all blood donors at St. Luke’s. Donors should
follow the signs to the new Emergency Department entrance on West Street at the back of the hospital.
The valet service is on the upper deck of the parking garage. Blood donors need to tell the valet personnel
that he/she wishes to donate blood. The valet service at St. Luke’s Hospital is operated by a professional
company. For more information or to make an appointment call 508-961-5320.
The St. Luke's Blood Bank is 90 percent self-supporting, meaning that 90 percent of the blood
used in the hospital comes from local volunteer donors. Typically, St. Luke’s uses nearly 600 pints of
blood a month. In addition to emergency cases, blood is needed for people undergoing surgery, and
patients receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer, or other diseases, such as sickle cell anemia and
hemophilia.
-more-
Southcoast Blood Bank at St. Luke’s Hospital Extends Hours
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October 6, 2005
What to expect when you donate.
When prospective donors come to the Blood Bank, staff discuss their medical history and make
sure they are able to donate. Potential donors also fill out a confidential questionnaire on their medical
backgrounds. These measures safeguard the health of the donor as well as the health of the person
receiving blood. The whole process of the interview and the actual donating usually takes 20 to 25
minutes. The donor's body replaces the fluid lost from donation in 24 hours and the red blood cells in
about eight weeks.
Who’s eligible to donate?
Blood donors should be in good health (no colds or flu), at least 18 years old, weigh at least 110
pounds, have not taken drugs or alcohol recently, are over 70 and have your physician's permission.
Donors who have traveled in Africa or have a tattoo should call first. Donors who have spent more than
three months cumulative in the United Kingdom since 1980 also should call first. For more information
on how to be a donor, call 508-961-5320.
Southcoast Health System, a not-for-profit charitable organization, is a community based health
delivery system with multiple access points, offering an integrated continuum of health services
throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and East Bay, Rhode Island. It includes Southcoast Hospitals
Group, formed in 1996 from the merger of Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke's Hospital
in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham.
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