Grand Strand Hospitals Choose New Blood Provider

The Blood Connection (TBC), a Greenville, SC based community blood center, became the exclusive blood provider for Grand Strand Regional Medical Center and Conway Medical Center on October 1, 2020. These hospitals will be joining other healthcare systems in the Carolinas like Vidant Health, WakeMed, McLeod Health, Roper St. Francis Healthcare, Mission Health, and Prisma Health, who have all chosen TBC as their local blood supplier. This new relationship will impact thousands of residents by providing live-saving blood products to the Grand Strand region through the support of the community.

TBC has served as a non-profit 501(c)(3) community blood center for almost 60 years and is the exclusive blood provider for the entire Upstate of South Carolina and a large portion of North Carolina. Recent growth has brought TBC to the Pee Dee region and the Lowcountry. With its expansion into Myrtle Beach, S.C., the blood center will be broadening its reach along the South Carolina coast and bridging the gap between two other service areas, the Outer Banks and Charleston. TBC also plans to open a donation center in Myrtle Beach in the near future.

"I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for the community to support its local blood center by donating blood. To put it into perspective, an unexpected trauma can require 20 pints of blood or more. Not to mention other patients who have blood disorders, cancer, and other diseases that require treatments," said Delisa K. English, TBC President and CEO. "We have to be ready for anything. When you donate blood with The Blood Connection, you are ensuring your neighbors will have the blood products needed to save lives every day."

TBC has played an integral role in the fight against COVID-19. Since the beginning of the pandemic, TBC has been at the forefront of providing desperately needed convalescent plasma, which can be donated by someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or the antibodies. TBC has also navigated the fluctuations of the blood supply though the pandemic and has partnered with various community organizations to host vital blood drives. During this time, TBC kept up with hospital partners' needs amidst a national blood shortage.

While blood collections is a big part of what TBC does, it is also a full-service blood center, which includes testing, manufacturing, distribution and reference lab services, now including COVID-19 antibody testing. As a single-focused operation, the community blood center is able to commit all of its resources to collecting and testing blood products in order to transport them to local hospitals quickly.

About The Blood Connection

The Blood Connection has been committed to saving lives since 1962. Founded in Greenville, South Carolina, TBC is an independently managed, not-for-profit, community blood center that provides blood products to more than 70 hospitals within Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

Recognized by the U.S. Congress for its dedication to disaster preparedness and the community, TBC works diligently to collect blood from volunteer donors to meet the ever-increasing demand. By keeping collections local, TBC serves hundreds of thousands of patients a year in its communities. TBC is licensed and regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. For more information, visit thebloodconnection.org.