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| Vol. 23, No. 11 |
| June 15, 2001 |
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ExxonMobil and St. Luke's Team Up to Boost Blood Donations By LINDA HINKLE St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital's Blood Donor Program held the first in a series of six blood drives for 2001 at ExxonMobil's Baytown Refinery. More than 180 people donated blood in this first drive. The Baytown Refinery has a long history of successful blood drives over many years. Since 1986, donations from employees, contractors and the community have touched the lives of more than 120,000 patients. "We're delighted that ExxonMobil Baytown Refinery is coordinating their blood drives with St. Luke's," said Dr. Arthur Bracey, medical director of St. Luke's Blood Bank and Transfusion Service. "Blood donations are vital to the Houston area and to St. Luke's. We're very grateful to the Baytown Refinery for their willingness to organize this effort in support of this most important community health effort." "As one of the largest employers in Baytown, we feel it's important for us to take an active role in supporting the community," said Ken Hancock, ExxonMobil department head and Baytown Refinery Blood Donor Program chair. "Through our partnership with St. Luke's, we're making a difference - one patient at a time. Our donors are very much aware of the impact their donations can have on the lives of patients, and we are constantly striving to increase the awareness of the need for blood and blood components. In addition to the scheduled blood drives, the Baytown Refinery is supporting an on-site platelet and plasma apheresis collection facility with St. Luke's. Apheresis is a special kind of blood donation that allows the collection of a specific blood component from a donor while returning the red cells and other components back to the donor. "This is the first time St. Luke's has opened an off-site platelet and plasma apheresis collection facility," said Dr. Bracey. "We're particularly excited about this aspect of our partnership with ExxonMobil." The Blood Donor Center at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Blood drives at ExxonMobil will be held every eight weeks. For more information, call the Blood Donor Center at (713) 791-4483 (GIVE) or visit St. Luke's Web site at http://www.stlukestexas.com.
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