Brian Gannon Welcome Message
As the President and CEO of Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center, let me be one of the first to welcome you to our great organization. Our team is made up of committed individuals working together with the common goal of saving lives. The work that we do makes a tremendous difference for patients and their families across the Texas Gulf Coast region, and we could not achieve this without the dedicated people who work for this organization. We are proud to now count you among them. This site is designed to help you learn a little more about our culture here at The Blood Center, as well as general help with getting around your new workplace. I hope it will be a helpful resource for you, and I encourage you to take a look at the contents and learn as much as you can. Whether you have recently begun your job at The Blood Center or are looking forward to your first day, I hope this marks the beginning of a lasting, rewarding career. Welcome to our team!
Brian Gannon President/CEO
Why Should You Give
Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center will need to collect more than 250,000 units of blood and blood components to supply the patients in this region. Every single day, 700 people need to make whole blood donations to keep the blood supply at optimal levels. There is no substitute for this life saving gift so, when you need blood, there is only one place to get it from another human being who is willing to share the “Gift of Life.”
A single donation of whole blood can help to save the lives of three different patients. Donors often respond when there is a special need, but blood centers mostly depend on donors who are willing to give regularly to meet day-to-day blood needs.
Unless more people become blood donors, the blood supply will not keep pace with the growing demand. Although 60% of the population in the United States is eligible to donate blood, only 5% is willing give. Someday, your life may depend on the availability of blood. To assure that blood will be there when you need it, give now, and encourage others to become regular volunteer blood donors.
Gulf Coast Renaissance Faire Blood Drives
Travel back to a time when armored knights roamed the countryside competing for fortune and fame, and do a noble deed of your own by donating blood.
All blood donors will receive:
- FREE Ticket to the Gulf Coast Renaissance Faire
- FREE OneBlood T-Shirt
- FREE $20 eGift Card
Plus, all successful donations will receuve a wellness checkup which includes blood pressure, pulse, temperature, iron count, and cholesterol screening.
For more information please call 1.888.9.DONATE . Thank you for being a blood donor! We look forward to seeing you soon.
ID required. Donors must be at least 16 years old. Those who are 16 years old need parental permission. See website for more details. *One offer per donor, per donation. Gifts may vary. No cash value. Non-transferable. While supplies last. If you have recently donated, thank you. Please visit us when you are eligible to donate again. **Donor must have successful donation to obtain test results. If donor does not have account created in donor portal already, they must provide email address to phlebotomist at the time of registration so account can be created. Donor will receive email post donation with instructions. The same email provided at registration is used to activate donor portal account.
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The Blood Center Maintains Life
Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center is a non-profit organization that began operations in 1975. The Blood Center serves the Texas Gulf Coast region as well as the largest medical complex in the world . Its 630 employees are tasked with collecting 800 donations every day to help maintain blood supplies at more than 170 hospitals. As every donation can save up to three lives, The Blood Centers mission and purpose are absolutely critical.
During Hurricane Harvey, AlertMedia made communications with our staff so much easier.
When Hurricane Harvey dumped torrential rainfall on the greater Houston area, the damage and loss of life was overwhelming. Without AlertMedias emergency notification system in place, The Blood Center would have experienced challenges contacting team members throughout the storm. They needed guidance on whether or not to return to work and help service those who were also affected by the storm.
In The Eye Of A Hurricane Loss Of Service Could Mean Loss Of Life
Prior to adopting AlertMedia, The Blood Centers emergency notification system had come up short in multiple ways. Their previous provider had a small support team, which made reaching them problematic. They were slow to respond and simply couldnt provide the level of support The Blood Center desperately needed.
During a fire incident, when they truly needed to keep their people safe and informed, their previous communications system was not reliable. Right when it mattered most, they were unable to contact impacted staff and maintain the flow of their operations.
DeKeitra Fitzgerald, Claims and Safety Manager at Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center, knew they were long overdue for a reliable solution. For DeKeitra, who is responsible for the centers employee and donor safetyit wasnt a matter of if a crisis would strike again, but when.
Her answer came in 2017 during one of the most active hurricane seasons on record.
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University Of Houstons Student Centers Partners With Gcrbc To Host Weeklyblood Drives
DSAES NewsJuly 21, 2022
Beginning Tuesday, February 2, 2021, The Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center will begin holding weekly blood drives in the Downtown Room of the Student Center South on the University of Houston campus.
The University of Houston Student Centers and GCRBC would like to continue this trend even amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This partnership started over 20 years ago, but when we heard they were struggling, we agreed to host the drives inside, as we are currently the location of the universitys mobile COVID testing site, explained Eve Esch, Director of the Student Centers.
The GCRBCs donations have been down 80% since the pandemic started. They provide blood to 170 hospitals in the greater Houston area.
Since 2000, 796 blood drives have been hosted at the University of Houston with 25,331 blood donations which have saved 75,993 lives. Additionally, they are now conducting donation and collection of COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma . This is encouraging, as it may be an effective treatment when given early to hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
Those interested in signing up can go to the University of Houston Blood Drive page.
For more information, please contact: Eve Esch 743-3040.
Severe Flooding Requires Quick Delivery Of Multi
In late August of 2017, the Texas Gulf Coast was devastated by Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 storm. The system intensified over warm gulf waters before making landfall on San José Island, Texas. Although Harvey had weakened by the time it hit Houston, the storm stalled over the heavily populated metro area for two days. It unleashed massive flooding, debilitating the infrastructure of the entire region.
The Gulf Coast Blood Center, with headquarters in the heart of Houston, launched into crisis mode. Theres always a need for timely delivery of blood to hospitals that use blood products daily. But that need is never more pronounced than in the throes of a life-impacting crisis. The situation was especially critical because blood was still needed throughout the Greater Houston area as rainfall and torrential flooding grew worse.
Up until Harvey, The Blood Center had primarily used AlertMedias communication software to conduct quarterly tests, a best practice for any business. In fact, the center found itself well-prepared for a crisis thanks to the drills they had run leading up to Harvey. Now it was time to enact their plan for a real-life scenario.
First course of action: immediately contact key business stakeholders and employees in danger. Due to downed power lines and a compromised electrical grid, phone service in the area was spotty. Without a dependable communications system in place, The Blood Center would have struggled to reach its people.
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The Facts Of Donating Blood
Here are just some of the reasons why donating blood is a great idea:
Giving blood is safe
Needles and bags used to collect blood are used only once and discarded, which makes spread of infection to the donor not possible.
Donating blood is easy
Following registration, you will answer simple medical history questions and receive a mini-physical. You will then be seated in a comfortable chair while you donate.
Giving blood is fast
The entire life-saving process takes approximately 45 minutes. The actual donation time is only 5-10 minutes.
Giving blood saves lives
Whole blood donations are processed into a variety of blood components. Each donation can save the life of a person with leukemia, cancer, anemia, and those undergoing surgery for illness or injury. Your donation will help ensure an adequate supply for both children and adults who are patients within Lee Health.
Giving blood helps your community
All blood donated stays to help the patients within Lee Health.
Questions about donating – call Lee Health Blood Center at 239-343-2333.
Your donation Serves Our community
Blood donations with Lee Health Blood Center remain in our four acute care hospitalsCape Coral Hospital, Gulf Coast Medical Center, HealthPark Medical Center and Lee Memorial Hospital, which houses the only Trauma Center within a five-county radius.
The blood used for patient care has to be continuously replenished to maintain a constant blood supply.
Conference Call Feature Keeps Everyone Connected And Informed
Fortunately, AlertMedias conference call feature, which allows users to quickly loop necessary parties into a call , ended up serving as The Blood Centers primary method of communication. AlertMedia allowed The Blood Center to instantly contact executives and directors to discuss necessary plans and procedures.
Thanks to uninterrupted communications, The Blood Center was able to coordinate plans for continued blood delivery to hospitals. They were also able to inform staff of canceled drives and when theyd reopen. The need for a steady supply of blood is a constant necessity, and it doesnt let up when crisis strikes.
Because AlertMedia is equipped with a two-way messaging interface, the center utilized status updates from their people to account for all team members. This helped DeKeitra coordinate scheduling, determine who had the all-clear to come into work, and identify who might need assistance.
With facilities spanning the Gulf Coast Region, AlertMedia played a vital role in keeping the entire center operational during Hurricane Harvey. Beyond helping The Blood Center navigate one of the costliest disasters in U.S. history, AlertMedia has proved to be an invaluable ongoing resource.
The center uses AlertMedia to run fire drills and group employees for department and team-specific messaging . In addition, DeKeitra is impressed with AlertMedias stellar customer support and continued personal attention and care.
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What Is The All Of Us Research Program
All of Us is a new research program from the National Institutes of Health . The goal is to advance precision medicine. Precision medicine is health care that is based on you as an individual. It takes into account factors like where you live, what you do, and your family health history. Precision medicines goal is to be able to tell people the best ways to stay healthy. If someone does get sick, precision medicine may help health care teams find the treatment that will work best.
To get there, we need one million or more people. Those who join will share information about their health over time. Researchers will study this data. What they learn could improve health for generations to come. Participants are our partners. Well share information back with them over time.