St. Mary?s Hospital Chooses New Blood Supplier

Effective Jan. 15, the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks began supplying blood to St. Mary’s Hospital in Rogers. The contract made the Community Blood Center the sole provider to every Northwest Arkansas hospital except Gravette Medical Center, said Karen Little Smith, St. Mary’s laboratory administrator.The blood center supplies a total of 32 hospitals in Northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri.

Before the agreement, the Northwest Arkansas center collected 1,000-1,250 units monthly for Washington, Benton, Carroll and Madison counties. Adding St. Mary’s to the list requires 200 more units of blood each month.

St. Mary’s participation with the center extends the area blood supply network. If a hospital needs emergency blood, it can draw upon reserves in other hospitals or at the blood center.

“[The network] is probably the biggest selling point,” Smith said.

The Community Blood Center launched a schedule of blood collections in Rogers to supply St. Mary’s. Once a donor base has been established in Rogers, the center plans to open a 1,300-1,700-SF permanent donation office there, said Don Moore, administrator of the blood center’s Northwest Arkansas office.

Previously, United Blood Services in Fort Smith supplied St. Mary’s.