HANOVER TWP., NORTHAMPTON COUNTY, Pa. — A brand-new bloodmobile will enable Miller-Keystone Blood Center to collect more blood and help meet hospital demand across the region, the center's leader said.
Officials unveiled the new vehicle, called Bloodhound I, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday at the center's headquarters off Valley Center Parkway in Hanover Township, Northampton County.
They said it was made possible through funding provided by the Fleming Foundation, which supports health-related initiatives in the Lehigh Valley, as well as battery manufacturing company EnerSys.
“That’s going to be hundreds of units that are going to have a positive impact on hundreds of our community patients and families.”Rami Nemeh, president and CEO of Hospital Central Services
It's the first of four new bloodmobiles in the works to bolster the blood center's fleet, said Rami Nemeh, chief executive of Hospital Central Services and its affiliates, which include Miller-Keystone.
With the new vehicles, Nemeh said, he hopes Miller-Keystone can hold about 100 blood drives a year.
“That’s going to be hundreds of units that are going to have a positive impact on hundreds of our community patients and families,” he said.
The name Bloodhound I is inspired by the organization's mascot, Half-Pint the bloodhound.
The vehicle is a brand-new school bus transformed into a mobile station equipped to hold blood drives on the go.
More in the making
Nemeh said it took about a year and half to get the funding and prepare Bloodhound I, with three more buses in the making.
The current bloodmobiles in the center's fleet are aging quickly, he said, affecting the blood center's ability to provide for the community.
“We’re at the point where we have to cancel blood drives because we don’t have enough vehicles,” he said.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Nemeh said the blood center lost all of its access to businesses and schools that allowed the center to hold blood drives.
"They either shut down or they went to work remote,” he said. “So at this point most of those businesses and schools are allowing us to go back on premise to collect, but we’re not where we need to be yet.”
Need for bigger fleet
With Mille Keystone being the only independent community blood center servicing local and regional hospitals, Nemeh said he thinks the new bloodmobiles will let the organization meet the demand of hospitals and patients in the community.
“We can’t wait to get Bloodhound II and III on the road as soon as possible,” he said.
Blood center Finance Director Chris Roff said the organization has seven bloodmobiles, with each making 40 to 50 blood drives a year.
He said obtaining a bus and equipping it as a bloodmobile takes hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“Everything happens on the bloodmobile,” Roff said.
The bus contains all the equipment needed to carry out a blood drive, such as internet, medical supplies, screening supplies and coolers, he said.
Keith Vogrin, Miller-Keystone Blood Center’s director of marketing, said two of the buses will be ready this summer, and a third will be ready by 2026.
“That’s how important this blood will be to us."Rami Nemeh, chief executive of hospital central services and its affiliates
He said the blood center is the primary blood supplier for most hospitals in the area. According to the Miller-Keystone Blood Center website, it is a blood provider for 35 hospitals across eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey.
“We try to make people understand that the blood that they donate with Keystone Blood Center, because we’re community [based], it goes to hospitals in the community,” Vogrin said.
To meet the demand of hospitals and patients, Nemeh said, the blood center needs an average of 350 donors each day.
He said 40% of the blood collected annually is donated through blood drives.
“That’s how important this blood will be to us,” he said.
