NRV Health Task Force and LewisGale Montgomery team up to address blood donation shortage

NEW RIVER VALLEY, Va. (WDBJ) - In the New River Valley (NRV), community leaders are coming together to help address the nationwide blood shortage.

The NRV Public Health Task Force got together and asked themselves, ‘What can we do to help?’

Their answer--- a blood drive.

Hospital leaders say as they’ve transitioned through the pandemic, they’re seeing another health crisis-- a blood crisis.

LewisGale Montgomery Hospital says it’s experiencing decreases in blood supply from the Red Cross because it needs more donors.

“Here at Montgomery, we’re a level three trauma center, so the availability of blood at all times is incredibly important to all of our patients. And then also when you think about the different populations, so whether it’s a cancer patient or patients we’re dealing with blood disorders --- we have to have that as a critical treatment,” said Devin Tobin, the chief operating officer of LewisGale Hospital Montgomery. “We want to make sure we have that and all of us can play a part in fixing the blood crisis. We can all be donors. So it’s great that as a community, we can come together and fix this problem.”

The hospital and a number of community partners will host a second blood drive in partnership with the Red Cross. It will be Friday, April 8, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Blue Ridge Church in Christiansburg.

Their goal is to raise more than 200 units.

You can register here.