Miller-Keystone Blood Center

Serving Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton, Southern Luzerne, Upper Bucks, Western Montgomery and Western Schuylkill (PA) and Warren (NJ) counties.

Our regional blood supply is critically in need of O-NEGATIVE donations, as well as PLATELET donations, at this time. Your Donation. Your Community. Your Blood Center.

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MILLER-KEYSTONE BLOOD CENTER RESUMES CHOLESTEROL TESTING

Complimentary Service To Blood Donors Resumes After Suspension To Replace Outdated Equipment

Miller-Keystone Blood recently announced that it has resumed complimentary cholesterol screening for blood donors.

“To help monitor and improve the health and wellness of our blood donors, MKBC has historically extended a free cholesterol screening to each and every donor that comes through our doors,” explains Catherine Palumbo, Director of Marketing. “However, our previous cholesterol screening equipment was rendered obsolete in June 2008 because it is not compatible with a new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandated labeling system. Therefore, we were recently unable to offer our donors this complementary service.”

Funds from the Blood Center’s 2008-2009 Annual Appeal were designated to replace this vital equipment, in the form of the Olympus AU400 Chemistry Analyzer. According to Palumbo, this new equipment will allow the Blood Center to better serve both its volunteer blood donors and blood recipients.

“This new equipment will enable Miller-Keystone Blood Center to resume providing a vital community wellness initiative to our blood donors by allowing us to assist in maintaining community wellness as a whole by screening for preventable and treatable diseases,” she says. “We believe that this, in turn, will translate into additional blood donations, and ultimately, additional life-saving blood products available to care for premature infants, accident victims and cancer patients at our regional hospitals.”

For more information, contact Catherine Palumbo, Director of Marketing, at ext. 291, at 800-223-6667, or cpalumbo@hcsc.org.

MILLER-KEYSTONE BLOOD CENTER PROGRAM EDUCATES AND INSPIRES NEXT GENERATION OF BLOOD DONORS

Miller-Keystone Blood Center (MKBC) continues to reach out to the next generation of blood donors through the television screen and the computer monitor with their innovative science program called “My Blood, Your Blood®.”

Developed by scientists, physicians and educators, this multimedia program on the human circulatory system features videos for elementary, middle and high school science classes, comprehensive lesson plans, engaging classroom materials and resources for teachers, students and families. Through sophisticated animation and microscopy, the program captures the imagination of students of all ages and helps foster an interest in science; it also emphasizes the value of community service through blood donation and the importance of a healthy lifestyle.  MKBC staff present this educational program to the students at area schools, or a tour at the blood center facility can be organized and incorporated into the program. 

“Thanks to generous financial support from the community, these science education program materials are available at no cost to schools in the region served by Miller-Keystone Blood Center,” said Sandra D. Thomas, Director of Development at Miller-Keystone, the exclusive not-for-profit blood provider to our community’s hospitals.  “We are proud to offer this program at no cost to the community because it illustrates to our youth how blood helps us live, and our ultimate goal is to inspire our community youth to donate blood when they’re old enough.”

These blood donations will be essential in the years to come.  Across the country, the number of people who donate blood has fallen steadily for the past five years; at the same time the demand for blood has grown annually. If these trends continue in the future, there will be not only spot shortages of blood but also year-round, chronic shortages. Still the fact remains that there is no substitute for human blood, and experts predict that demand will soon begin to outpacing supply.  The World War II generation has long held the distinction of being the most dedicated and frequent blood donor group.  Meanwhile, as the huge baby-boomer generation ages and begins to experience health problems of their own, blood usage will climb.

“Here in the Lehigh Valley, Miller-Keystone Blood Center is committed to saving lives by distributing more than 150,000 blood components annually,” said J. Michael Lee, DBA, President-CEO, Miller-Keystone Blood Center. “This means that our community depends on us, as the community’s only blood resource, to collect and provide more than 450 units of blood each and every day.” 

Miller-Keystone Blood Center is in the process of developing their upcoming schedule of presentations for the new school year.  Any grade 4 – 12 schools or youth groups interested are invited to contact Sandra D. Thomas or Kathy Meck at 800-223-6667, or click here for more information.