THUNDER BAY — Canadian Blood Services, the national blood services operator, is reestablishing a plasma donor centre in Thunder Bay.
The announcement comes a dozen years after the agency shut down the service it had operated in the city between 1996 and 2012.
Renovations in an existing vacant part of the Thunder Centre shopping area are underway, and are expected to be completed by early next year.
The facility will be the 10th that CBS has opened across the country since 2020 with funding from the federal and provincial governments.
In a statement Wednesday, Canadian Blood Services said it shut down in Thunder Bay in 2012 in response to a significant decline in the use of plasma for transfusion at hospitals.
"However, more than a decade later, the landscape has shifted," it said.
"Today, health systems in Canada and abroad continue to see a steady rise in the need for plasma to make a different kind of lifesaving product: immunoglobulins."
Immunoglobulins are given intravenously to patients with compromised immune systems or neurological disorders.
"Thousands of patients in Canada rely on these medications and many have no other treatment option available," CBS stated.
Mayor Ken Boshcoff welcomed the announcement, saying he'd been waiting for it after being approached by the agency last year.
"They checked in to see if we would welcome a plasma centre back, and of course I did a cartwheel," he said.
Boshcoff said it will give city residents another opportunity to feel they're contributing to society.
"And the fact that people can donate later in life is also a tremendous bonus for people who now, perhaps, have more time to do that."
Canadian Blood Services said it looks forward to welcoming new and returning donors, volunteers, and community partners, adding "Together we can make a difference for patients who depend on immunoglobulins."
The agency did not indicate how many staff it will require, but at its previous location in the city there were 28 employees.
The only existing plasma donor centre in Northern Ontario is in Sudbury.
