News and Events

Newark, DE - Blood Bank of Delmarva has officially begun a major expansion project. The organization is doubling the size of its current facility, building a new donor room and expanding every area of operation - including its laboratory and administrative offices.

This expansion project will address many of the organization's space issues. In meeting a growing need for blood at area hospitals, the number of blood donations on Delmarva has grown over the years - from 62,207 blood donations in 1999 to 82,292 in 2007 (32% growth). The Christiana Center serves as the Blood Bank's "headquarters" and, as its biggest facility, collects 47% of all blood donations on Delmarva. There are 3 other permanent blood donation sites in Wilmington and Dover, DE and Salisbury, MD.

"We outgrew the Christiana Center a long time ago," said Sharon Wiseman, director of Donor Services. "This will be our last chance to expand at this location and we need to be capable of drawing enough donors to maintain the blood supply at local hospitals in the future."

What's To Come
Construction plans include renovating 85% of the existing facility and adding four new sections. The design and layout will be streamlined to minimize the movement of donors throughout the donation experience and improve the flow of blood products from processing to distribution.

The new donor room will be much larger, providing space for six additional beds and growth in the volume of whole blood, ALYX (double red cell) and pheresis (platelets and plasma) donors.

The Blood Bank laboratory will also be expanded, allowing room for equipment to conduct tests for eleven infectious diseases and conditions. This will give lab technicians the opportunity to do all blood testing in-house for the first time and provide extra space for any new tests that may come along in the future.

"To do our job efficiently, we must increasingly rely on new technology," said Bob Travis, Blood Bank President and CEO. "Just this week, we introduced new touch screen computers in every interview booth for donors to use to provide their medical history. All of these things take additional space and we must expand this building to accommodate those things and the many other changes and additions still to come."

Impact on Donors During Construction
The Christiana Center will continue to fully operate throughout the expansion, and a plan is in place to minimize the impact on staff. Other than a few minor inconveniences during specific phases of construction, donors will not be affected.

"This is one of the more complicated projects we've worked on - with so many complex phases," said Jeff Nowland of Nowland Associates. "It is essential that this construction is sequenced perfectly and done quickly and efficiently without disturbing the process of collecting, testing, and distributing blood products to local hospitals."

Construction is expected to be complete in the winter of 2010. The project will cost about $10 million.