Northside Hospital Hosts Community Blood Drives

Throughout the year, Northside Hospital hosts community blood drives at each of its hospitals in Atlanta, Forsyth and Cherokee.  According to the American Red Cross, about four million people need blood each year in the United States, which equates to one person every two seconds.  The need for blood is ongoing because unused blood has an expiration of 42 days.

A single blood donation can be separated into components – red blood cells, platelets and plasma - to help at least three patients.  Red blood cells help accident victims, surgery patients and those with anemia. 
Platelets help blood clots and are used for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.  Plasma is used to treat patients suffering from burns or shock.

If every eligible donor donated at least twice each year, there would never be seasonal blood shortages.  The only source of blood is volunteer blood donations and your donation is needed now.

Upcoming blood drives at Northside include:

Tuesday, August 7, 2007
10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Northside Hospital-Cherokee, Education Building
201 Hospital Rd, Canton

Friday, August 31, 2007
7 a.m.-5 p.m.
Northside Hospital 980 Doctors' Centre
Ground Floor, Classroom B
980 Johnson Ferry Rd. NE, Atlanta

Thursday, September 27, 2007
6-11 p.m.
Northside Hospital, Patient Access (Admissions)
1000 Johnson Ferry Rd. NE, Atlanta

Friday, September 28, 2007
11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Northside Hospital-Forsyth, Bennett Education Center
1400 Northside Forsyth Dr, Cumming

FREE PARKING – all non-Northside employee donors will be reimbursed for $3 deck fee (Atlanta only). Free parking in Forsyth & Cherokee.

FREE NORTHSIDE HOSPITAL T-SHIRT for each donor.

*As long as you are healthy, weigh at least 110 pounds and are 17 or older, you can give blood every 56 days.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, please contact:
Forsyth: Jamie Kelley, (770) 844-3838, jamie.kelley@northside.com  
Atlanta: Debbie Lucca, (404) 845-5185, debbie.lucca@northside.com  
Cherokee: Brandy Green, (770) 720-5282, brandy.green@northside.com  

Northside Hospital is a 444-bed, not-for-profit hospital serving North Metro Atlanta. Northside has one of the largest medical staffs in the Southeast with more than 1,800 physicians and 5,000 employees.  This highly skilled team of professionals served more than 430,000 patient visits in 2005.  While primarily known for its expertise in women's services, Northside Hospital provides comprehensive cancer care, cardiology and other medical specialties, emergency services, surgical services, outpatient treatment and behavioral services.  Northside Hospital is dedicated to delivering optimum patient care and achieves this goal by embracing technological advances, striving for clinical excellence and never forgetting that every patient deserves to be treated with respect and compassion.