CHC assures adequate stock of blood

Despite not having a blood donor facility in the CNMI, the Commonwealth Health Center claims that it maintains an adequate supply of blood in its blood bank and never runs out of stock, even in emergency cases.

Hospital laboratory manager Albert Gurusamy told Saipan Tribune that there are standard practices they follow for blood bank operations.

“CHC maintains an adequate stock of blood to meet its patient needs. Occasions do arise where more than one medical episode and emergency occurs simultaneously, which may require an inordinate amount of blood usage. The blood bank, medical staff, and hospital administration have always worked together to resolve the best utilizations in managing such emergency situations,” said Gurusamy.

CHC, he assured, has never “run out of blood” for patient use.

Gurusamy emphasized that CHC has its own blood bank, part of the hospital’s laboratory. The CHC lab is certified by Medicare and has been maintaining this required certification since it began operations. He said the most recent inspection was in September 2010 and the laboratory met all conditions of participation, including the CHC blood bank.

Gurusamy said that CHC no longer performs blood donor collections due to the updated and extremely difficult processes required by the Food and Drugs Administration and Medicare.

“CHC previously performed blood donor collections but discontinued this service in 1999. It is extremely cost prohibitive to perform donor collections as the screening and testing cannot be accomplished on-island to meet federal standards,” he explained.

He disclosed that the hospital obtains all blood products from the American Red Cross, which collects the supply from donor centers in the St. Louis, Missouri region and is shipped to Saipan every two weeks. The blood is processed by the Red Cross following all requirements of the FDA and shipped in appropriate packaging to prevent deterioration.

“CHC receives 37 units of blood in each shipment, every two weeks. There is a standard practice in U.S. blood banks for how much blood should be maintained in a blood bank in order to meet the blood needs of hospital patients,” he said.

The cost of purchasing blood from the American Red Cross is considerably lower than the cost of collecting blood from local donors and then testing and processing them appropriately. Gurusamy disclosed that one unit of blood from the Red Cross costs about $260. To collect and produce the same unit of blood on Saipan would cost close to $600.

On occasion, an emergency medical situation arises that depletes the stock of blood. In such situations, Gurusamy said the blood bank takes the necessary steps to boost the stock, which include informing the operating room to postpone non-critical elective procedures that might need blood. They also call the Red Cross to release an unscheduled shipment or the Guam Memorial Hospital, where they can borrow some units of blood.

Not having a blood donor facility in the CNMI has had very little impact to the quality of service they provide, Gurusamy said. He pointed out that CHC has been purchasing blood from the American Red Cross since 1999, with little to no impact on patient care.

The biggest problem CHC has experienced in recent years is the constant pressure from the American Red Cross to pay outstanding invoices in a timely manner, he said.

CHC is still under a state of emergency as a result of not having enough funds to pay its vendors.