PLASMAVIE-GLOBULE in Saguenay: First Double Banner Donor Centre in Québec
Saguenay, September 17, 2015 – Héma-Québec has officially launched the activities of the PLASMAVIE Plasma Donor Lounge and the GLOBULE Blood Donor Centre in Saguenay. Donors in the region, who are already deeply invested in the cause of blood donation, will now be able to make the most of an option that complements the mobile blood drives. They are invited to come and give plasma or blood in a friendly and personalized setting.
This is the first PLASMAVIE Plasma Donor Lounge to include a GLOBULE space in Québec. PLASMAVIE was created to enable Héma-Québec to increase its plasma sufficiency rate and, as a result, reduce its foreign procurement for this product. Only plasma intended for manufacturing medications is collected, using apheresis, which involves collecting only the blood components desired. For its part, the GLOBULE space will enable donors to make traditional blood donations.
“The Saguenay was selected specifically as a result of the large pool of active donors in the region and the exceptional support provided by the municipal authorities,” explained Serge Maltais, President and CEO of Héma-Québec. “Donor response since the centre was opened in July has been so positive that we have decided to hire 10 additional people in addition to the 25 current employees.”
“This is an important project that generates jobs in the health sector. The decision to select Saguenay demonstrates the importance Héma-Québec places on the region and the commitment of the donors to a cause that saves lives,” added Jean Tremblay, Mayor of Saguenay.
Héma-Québec’s goal is to make 25,000 collections per year once the centre has attained cruising speed. The centre required an investment of close to $2 million, in addition to the financial support received from the City of Saguenay.
Give plasma. Give life.
Plasma is the liquid component of blood that contains red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. The plasma collected in Saguenay will be used to manufacture medications specifically for patients with immune deficiencies. That is the case of Eli Desjardins, one and a half years old, from Saguenay, who was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease at the age of three months. It is an autoimmune disease that affects the circulatory system. It mostly affects children under the age of five and may result in cardiac complications.
“I’ve been giving blood for a long time but, since my son Eli received immunoglobulin treatments, I have a better understanding of the importance of the gesture,” explained Émilie Morneau-Guérin, Eli’s mother. “Now I can put faces to the lives saved as a result of these donations and that encourages me to make my loved ones aware of the cause.”
For more information about the PLASMAVIE-GLOBULE centre, consult the pages appended to the press release or visit www.plasmavie.ca.
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About Héma-Québec
Héma-Québec’s mission is to efficiently meet the needs of the Québec population for safe, optimal-quality blood and blood products, human tissues, cord blood, mother’s milk and cellular products; and to develop and provide expertise and specialized, innovative services in the field of human biological products.
Héma-Québec encompasses 1,300 employees, over 300,000 donor visits to blood drives per year, 16,000 volunteers and more than 500,000 blood products delivered annually to Québec hospitals to meet the needs of patients.
Give blood. Give life.
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Source and information:
Héma-Québec
Media line | 514-832-0871
www.hema-quebec.qc.ca