Drummondville centre key to plasma self-sufficiency strategy
MONTRÉAL, April 9, 2024 /CNW/ - Héma-Québec is proud to announce the opening of its 12th donor centre in Québec, and the first in the Centre-du-Québec region. The new Héma-Québec Drummondville Donor Centre will welcome its first donors in early 2025. Plasma donations made at this centre will be used to produce the specialty drugs needed to treat patients at hospitals across Québec. Each donation is an act of extraordinary generosity and part of a chain of life-changing kindness for thousands of patients and their families.
"We've set ourselves an ambitious plan for plasma self-sufficiency, but I know we can achieve it," says Nathalie Fagnan, president and CEO of Héma-Québec. "Héma-Québec knows that every little bit counts—each donation becomes a source of hope for patients fighting for their health and their lives. Opening a 12th donor centre in Québec is in complete alignment with our mission to efficiently meet the need for blood products, particularly plasma, while increasing our independence from foreign suppliers."
A dynamic city in a rapidly growing region, Drummondville is midway between Héma-Québec's Québec and Montréal locations, all of which makes it the ideal spot for a new donor centre to succeed. The 4,000 sq. ft. centre will open its doors with six donor chairs, with plans to expand to eight. The goal is to collect about 12,500 donations there each year.
"The residents of Drummondville and the surrounding area believe in Héma-Québec's mission," says Luc Lévesque, Vice President of Blood Products and Mother's Milk. "When blood drives are organized in and around Drummondville, locals come out in droves to donate. We are counting on them to show that same enthusiasm for helping their fellow Quebecers and come donate plasma at their new local donor centre."
The Drummondville centre will be located at 175 Robert-Bernard Street, near exit 179 off Autoroute 20, and will focus solely on plasma donations. Drummondville-area locals can continue donating blood at the many blood drives organized in the region throughout the year.
Plasma is a one-of-a-kind resource, and there is an ever-growing need for it. Thousands of Quebecers need medications produced using the immunoglobulin in plasma to treat a wide range of diseases, many of which are rare infections that attack the immune system. Héma-Québec currently distributes about 500,000 units of around 50 different specialty drugs to hospitals each year. Luckily, unlike blood, which can only be donated every 56 days by men and every 84 days by women, plasma can be donated every 6 days.
Héma-Québec set a goal to reach 42% self-sufficiency in intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) by 2026—2027. Héma-Québec's immunoglobulin self-sufficiency currently stands at 31%, up from under 22% in 2019, but maintaining a balance between growing demand and donations remains a major challenge. Héma-Québec's strategy aims to ensure the safety of our plasma supply so that plasma-derived specialty drugs can be provided to patients in need, right here in Québec. New donor centres, like the one in Drummondville, are a vital part of this strategy.
Made up of 90% water, plasma is the pale-yellow liquid component of blood that carries red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Plasma is rich in proteins like immunoglobulin, which are the basic ingredients in a number of specialty drugs that thousands of people rely on for their survival and well-being. Plasma plays a vital role in treating a number of immunodeficiencies and neurological disorders. Every day, plasma lets patients survive and recover. Visit the Héma-Québec website to learn more: https://www.hema-quebec.qc.ca/plasma/donneur-de-plasma/pourquoi-donner-du-plasma.en.html.
Héma-Québec's mission is to efficiently meet the Québec population's needs for blood and other high-quality biological products of human origin. Héma-Québec has over 1,600 employees, more than 200,000 donors of blood, stem cells, mother's milk and human tissues, as well as thousands of blood drive volunteers. Every year, Héma-Québec delivers nearly 800,000 biological products of human origin to Québec's hospitals in order to meet patients' needs.
Give blood. Give life.
SOURCE Héma-Québec
Josée Larivée, Media relations manager, [email protected] | 514-832-0871
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