Cape Cod Healthcare Blood Mobile Back on the Move
(HYANNIS, MA (February 1, 2023) After a three-year hiatus, the Cape Cod Healthcare Blood Mobile is up and running again, kicking off the first of many mobile drives scheduled this year with its first stop in Brewster at the Animal Rescue League of Boston on Monday, January 30.
Blood donations made through Cape Cod Healthcare’s donation program stay on the Cape to help family, friends and neighbors in need of this vital resource. The Blood Mobile makes giving blood even easier, as it is able to cover locations Cape-wide. “We are very happy to have it back on the road,” says Jonathan DeCoste, Senior Blood Donor Recruiter at Cape Cod Healthcare. “It will allow us to go back to places, such as Wendy’s and Cape Cod Five branches, that we haven’t been able to go to for a long time. Many companies, organizations and places of worship weren’t able to host blood drives any longer because they didn’t have the inside space we needed to set up our equipment.”
The Cape Cod Healthcare Blood Mobile was purchased over seven years ago with funding support from community partners, including Cape Cod 5, Rotary Clubs of Cape Cod, Wendy’s restaurant and Rick Roy Construction. Its first drive was held on September 12, 2015, at Seaside LeMans in Mashpee, but Covid put the brakes on the 40-foot motor coach in March 2020. “Now that we have the blood mobile back in operation, we are slowly but surely converting some blood drives to the blood mobile, such as the Brewster Police Department blood drive in February,” says DeCoste.
The Cape Cod Blood Mobile can go directly to a business, organization, place of worship, school or area in the community to make it as convenient as possible for people to donate. The blood mobile is state-of-the-art and completely self-contained. The interior is set up much like the blood drives run indoors. Inside the blood mobile, donors will find the same phlebotomists, a waiting area, two confidential medical history booths, four blood donation beds and a refreshment area.
“In approximately one hour, a donor can complete the entire donation process, including health history, donation and post-donation refreshments,” says DeCoste. “The Cape Cod Healthcare Blood Mobile can accommodate groups of many sizes and we can tailor the blood drive to suit any host’s needs.”
Upcoming mobile blood drives in February include stops at Northside United Methodist Church, Brewster Police Department and Barnstable Police Department.
Appointments are required at all blood drives. To make a donation appointment for an upcoming blood drive, please visit the Blood Donor Portal: https://srt.capecodhealth.org/donorportal/
To make an appointment for the Nicholas G. Xiarhos Blood Donor Center at Cape Cod Hospital, please call 508-862-5663.
To schedule a mobile drive at your organization, business, school or place of worship, please contact Jonathan DeCoste, Senior Blood Donor Recruiter at 508-862-5378 or email jdecoste@capecodhealth.org.
