NATCHEZ, Miss. –December 9, 2022 – On average, blood donations drop by more than 4,000 in December compared to the rest of the year. This holiday season, give the gift of life by donating blood. Vitalant is teaming up with Merit Health Natchez to host a local community blood drive in hopes of giving someone a chance to live another day. The drive will be held on Thursday, December 15, 2022, from 12:00pm-4:00pm at Merit Health Natchez.
Blood is the most precious gift that anyone can give to another person – the gift of life. A decision to donate your blood can save a life, or even several if your blood is separated into its components – red cells, platelets and plasma – which can be used individually for patients with specific conditions. “Donating blood may not be on your list of holiday traditions, but we hope you will consider adding it this year. The demand for blood typically increases during the holiday season. What better gift to give someone than the gift of life by taking a few minutes to donate blood,” said Kay Ketchings, Director of Marketing at Merit Health Natchez
Every Blood Type Needed
All blood types are needed not just for emergencies, but for planned surgeries, transplants and medical treatments. Type O blood is most commonly transfused and type O negative is vital in emergencies when a patient’s blood type isn’t known.
Help Patients, Keep Tabs on Own Health
Each Vitalant donor receives a mini-physical and full panel of tests. Donors can keep track of their pulse, blood pressure, hemoglobin and cholesterol in their secure and confidential online account.
How to Give
Appointments are encouraged. Please visit donors.vitalant.org and use Blood Drive Code – MeritHealth. Learn more at vitalant.org/health and to complete your health questionnaire. Donors who meet all eligibility requirements can give regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status.
Merit Health Natchez’s Blood Drive Location and Address
- Thursday, December 15, 2022
- 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM in the bloodmobile parked in the employee parking-lot
- Merit Health Natchez | 54 Sgt. Prentiss Drive Natchez, MS 39120
- Season’s Winnings Giveaway offered by Vitalent: You’ll be entered to win 1 of 3 $5,000 prepaid gift cards, redeemable by email, when you donate Dec. 1-25. All donors will receive $10 Amazon gift card redeemable by email.
About Merit Health Natchez
Merit Health Natchez is a Joint Commission-accredited hospital with 179-beds and offers a broad range of services, including emergency medicine, surgery, cardiology, labor and delivery, radiology, outpatient diagnostic testing, physical therapy and more. Merit Health Natchez holds additional accreditations from the American College of Cardiology for Chest Pain Center, the American College of Radiology for mammography, the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities and Advance Disease-Specific Care Certification for Acute Stroke Ready Hospital from The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Learn more at https://www.merithealthnatchez.com/.
Merit Health Natchez offers a free e-newsletter with a monthly dose of health and wellness inspiration sent directly to your inbox from a trusted medical source. You can sign up at https://www.merithealthnatchez.com/enewsletter-sign-up.
About Vitalant
Vitalant (“Vye-TAL-ent”) is the nation’s largest independent, nonprofit blood services provider exclusively focused on providing lifesaving blood and comprehensive transfusion medicine services for about 900 hospitals and their patients across the U.S. Every day, Vitalant needs to collect nearly 5,000
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