TriStar Greenview Regional Hospital is hosting a community blood drive in Bowling Green on Tuesday, Feb. 9, to help reverse a nationwide decrease in donors during the coronavirus pandemic.
Blood Assurance, a regional non-profit blood center, is conducting the drive. Account Manager Bob Murray said donors will be tested for COVID-19 antibodies, which few donors actually possess.
“Even though you may have felt bad or felt like you had the flu or COVID back in September, we’re finding most people are still negative for those antibodies," Murray said.
Blood donors who do have the antibodies will be asked to consider donating their plasma, which is transfused into hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Convalescent plasma can help patients recover faster from the disease.
The blood drive will be held on Tuesday from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., outside the hospital's main entrance. Appointments can be scheduled online.
Blood Assurance, headquartered in Chattanooga, TN, supplies 70 hospitals across Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, with blood and blood components.
