Starting next January, blood donors in Juneau will have a permanent location to contribute to the Blood Bank of Alaska.
BBA announced Tuesday that it’s planning to make the capital city the location of their fifth permanent donation office. The office, slated for a space in Jordan Creek Center on Glacier Highway, joins two offices in Anchorage, one in Fairbanks and one in Wasilla.
Blood donors previously scheduled donations at a mobile donation center which periodically came to the capital city. BBA has long discussed a permanent center in Juneau, according to its CEO Robert Scanlon.
“The community of Juneau has been an amazing support and have saved thousands of lives across the state,” Scanlon said in a prepared statement. “Their commitment is an inspiration and we are so proud to now be a daily part of their community.”
The center will include space for expanded services, a release states, and a more comfortable experience for donors than the mobile donation office.
BBA is an Alaska-based nonprofit founded in 1962. It’s the only organization collecting blood in Alaska.
The blood collected from volunteer blood donors supports 21 hospitals and Alaska Native and military medical facilities.
The bank had come under scrutiny in 2016 after a group of six employees filed two complaints with the Federal Drug Administration, alleging financial and operational misconduct.
Phone calls made to a BBA media representative weren’t returned Tuesday.
• Contact reporter Kevin Gullufsen at 523-2228 and kgullufsen@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @KevinGullufsen.
