WEEKLY UPDATE: 10/01/26
The Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) is pleased to partner with the American Red Cross of Connecticut to host a blood drive on Wednesday, November 11, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., at 110 Barnes Road in Wallingford.
Click here to reserve a donation appointment. Donors may also visit https://www.redcrossblood.org/ and enter the sponsor code “CHA” to find the drive. The Red Cross will provide donors with a $10 Amazon e-gift card.
Summer Emergency Shortage
Although donations have increased modestly since the American Red Cross announced its second-ever national blood supply crisis in July — after donations fell to a four-year summer low — the nation’s blood supply remains vulnerable with persistent blood inventory challenges, and the need for donors is urgent.
On July 16, CHA joined American Red Cross Connecticut and Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz at a press conference to elevate the calls for blood and platelet donors. CHA emphasized that every donation helps hospitals stay ready and supports patients who rely on lifesaving care and blood products. One in seven patients entering a hospital will need a blood transfusion. Without a stable blood supply, emergency rooms can’t function; maternity wards can’t operate; cancer patients must wait.
“Your one hour or less of donating blood could be someone else’s lifetime,” CHA’s Paul Jones, DNP, AGPCNP-BC, CPHQ, director of quality and patient safety, said, explaining that a sustainable blood supply is as important to a hospital as electricity and clean water.
“Our Connecticut hospitals and healthcare workers are deeply committed to quality and patient care, but they can’t do this work alone. They depend on the generosity of the community,” Jones said.
Blood donations were not keeping pace with hospital demand, which typically increases during the summer trauma season. Extreme heat, poor air quality, and widespread foodborne illnesses were also contributing to lower donor turnout this summer, further straining the nation’s and Connecticut’s blood supply.
As the nation’s largest single provider of blood products, the Red Cross had less than a one-day national supply of type O positive blood — the blood type most commonly transfused and most requested by hospitals. To help ensure blood was available for patients facing the most critical, life-threatening emergencies across the country, the Red Cross began limiting distributions of type O blood to individual hospitals.
Every donation is essential in helping prevent another emergency shortage.
Save the Date
CHA will also host three blood drives in the new year:
- Wednesday, February 3, 2027
- Tuesday, May 4, 2027
- Tuesday, August 3, 2027
More details will be shared closer to each date.
