Letter from Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus:
Saying ‘thank you,’ doesn’t seem to be enough to show our appreciation to the citizens of Lakewood who responded to our emergency request to donate blood on June 17th at Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus.
On June 10th, Sally Wells, Business Development Liaison for the RWJUH Blood Services sent a text to Rabbi Yehuda Kaszirer of Bikur Cholim to ask for help in organizing an Emergency Blood Drive.
“Although I was worried about the short notice,” explains Wells. “I knew that with his endorsement and a call to action from The Lakewood Scoop, the drive would reach its goal of 50 donors and the local blood supply would get a boost at a very critical time. 54 donors presented at the blood drive and more than 70 units of blood and plasma were collected to support the community. Thank you on behalf of our patients.”
There is currently a severe national shortage of blood and platelets that has been caused in great part due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The combination of a lack of access to organized blood donor groups for the past 16 months has left the country’s blood collection agencies with little to no back-up inventory as we enter the summer months, which is traditionally a very difficult time of year for blood collections. Couple that with the fact that hospital usage has increased nationally, and it’s pretty simple, availability just cannot keep up with the demand.
RWJ University Hospital has scheduled two additional blood and platelet drives in Lakewood this summer. Thursday July 1st, at the Training Center of the Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus , 198 Prospect Street from 2:00 to 7:00 p.m. Please consider making an appointment to donate platelets on July 1st, by calling 732-235-8100 ext. 221. On August 19th another Blood Drive is scheduled at Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus. More details to follow.