Bloodworks Northwest Unveils New Donation Center in Renton, Serving South Seattle Communities
Located directly across from Bloodworks’ processing lab, the new location will create better efficiencies between the two facilities by delivering blood within minutes.
SEATTLE (September 21, 2022) – Bloodworks Northwest has opened a new blood donation center in Renton in place of its previous one in Tukwila. The new center is located in Time Square Business Park at 660 SW 39th Street #100, directly across the street from Bloodworks’ testing and processing lab and two blocks from IKEA. This convenient location will provide better efficiencies between the two facilities and allow for faster processing times. The goal of the new, vibrant, modern donation center is to attract younger donors and serve the region.
The Bloodworks Renton Donor Center will operate seven days a week and increase the number of available donor beds by 10%. As a result, Bloodworks expects to collect more than 18,000 donations at the new center in the next year. The organization provides 95% of the blood supply to hospitals in Western Washington and Oregon, including nearby Valley Medical Center. It takes approximately a thousand people each day to provide a safe and reliable blood supply for those in need of transfusions for cancer, trauma, and surgeries in the Pacific Northwest.
“We are thrilled to bring a bigger and better donation center to our community,” said Bloodworks Northwest President and CEO Curt Bailey. “Blood donation is vital to the health and well-being of our community. Our new donor center in one of Washington’s ten largest cities will make it easier for people to donate blood, encouraging them to step up and save lives.”
Bloodworks is also trying to make the experience more donor friendly, with an outlet for cell phone charging behind every bench. There will also be free parking, and the center is near shopping outlets and freeways.
“We wanted something close to our center in Tukwila, which closed in August after 52 amazing years, but also looked at the possibility of adding some efficiencies by being located right across from our lab space,” said Executive Vice President of Blood Services Vicki Finson. “Traffic delays in getting blood processed can be a concern. A unit of blood donated at the new Renton Donor Center will now be in our laboratory within minutes and starting its journey toward helping a patient in need. We look forward to our loyal Tukwila center donors following us 1.2 miles to our new location in Renton and welcoming many new donors as we grow.”
The new donor center will also facilitate employee training of blood collection specialists since it is directly connected to the Bloodworks Northwest Training Suite. It’s also just steps away from the mobile hub, from which staff and mobile collection vehicles are drawn for blood drives within an approximately 50-mile radius.
On September 29 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Bloodworks Northwest will have a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the new donation center. President and CEO Curt Bailey, Executive Vice President of Blood Services Vicki Finson, Renton Mayor Armondo Pavone, Renton City Councilmember Ed Prince, and CEO Valley Medical Center Jeannine Grinnell will be on-site to celebrate the occasion, as will local blood recipient Mack Bell, who owes his life to transfusions from donors in his fight with a deadly condition called aplastic anemia.
To book a donation appointment at the new Renton Donor Center, please call 800-398-7888 or schedule online at www.bloodworksnw.org/donate.
About Bloodworks Northwest
Bloodworks Northwest is backed by 75 years of Northwest history and 250,000 donors. It is local, nonprofit, independent, volunteer-supported and community-based. A recognized leader in transfusion medicine, Bloodworks serves patients at hospitals in Washington, Oregon and Alaska — partnering closely with local hospitals to deliver the highest level of patient care. Comprehensive services include blood components, complex cross-matching, specialized lab services for organ transplants, care for patients with blood disorders, and collection of cord blood stem cells for cancer treatment. Bloodworks Research Institute performs leading-edge research in blood biology, transfusion medicine, blood storage and treatment of blood disorders. Patients with traumatic injuries, undergoing surgeries or organ transplantation, or receiving treatment for cancer and blood disorders all depend on our services, expertise, laboratories and research. Blood donation appointments can be scheduled at bloodworksnw.org.