Only on NBC 6: LifeShare Blood Centers Moves Into Texarkana
By: Jenna Zibton
Updated: January 5, 2012
A landmark deal will allow more people to save ArkLaTex lives. LifeShare Blood Centers are moving into Texarkana.
"We're a community name, a community blood center and we'll be serving our neighbors and we're just very happy to expand our family" says Libby Murphy, LifeShare Blood Centers' director of development & public relations.
United Blood Services is transferring its blood service operations to LifeShare. Murphy says donors will not notice a difference but it could mean life to people receiving blood.
"One of the things we'll be bringing with us into the community is an extensive array of laboratory services" says Wendell Jones, LifeShare's executive director of laboratory services.
Lifeshare is one of about fifty centers in the U.S. that identify, screen and store rare blood units in freezers. It's blood that is found in about one out of every 10,000 people.
"Sickle patients are a good example people who are multiply transfused and it can be very problematic to find blood for them. So Lifeshare will be able to bring a lot of the resources with our laboratories to make sure we can meet the community needs" says Jones.
Adding more people to the donor list means more chances to save lives if a disaster strikes.
"That's one of the beauties of having a community blood center that has multiple locations so that we can insure that all the patients everywhere within our service area have what they need, when they need it" says Murphy.
LifeShare will assume full operation of the United Blood Services' northeast Texas / southwest Arkansas center on May first. The organization stressed no jobs will be lost. People who currently work for United Blood Services can move to another branch or work with LifeShare.
