A long-standing London institution has a new home. Canadian Blood Services has opened its new central blood donor clinic on Wharncliffe Road.
Lloyd Morden likes to help by donating plasma, and donors like him are welcoming the new clinic.
"It's amazing. It's so bright and so colorful. Everybody is so organized. This is an amazing place. It's fantastic, much better than the old place."
Heather Scott visit to give blood and says "It has a lot more windows and it's more open."
Although the number of collection stations hasn't changed, what's new are the bright, open concept spaces that flow from the area where blood products are collected, to where they're processed, to administrative areas.
Chris Hardy, community development coordinator for Canadian Blood Services, says the project came in on time and on budget.
“The aesthetics are really nice. They’re futuristic looking, very modern feel, really warm and inviting for the donors."
The new clinic serves as the hub for the collection of whole blood, platelets and plasma in the London area. It's expected to collect almost 20,000 donations a year.
Canadian Blood Services was so impressed by the new clinic that it will serve as a prototype for other new facilities across the country.
The new clinic is only a few kilometers away from the previous facility on Commissioners Road, but because this clinic is in a mall, it's miles away from the parking challenges that can come with being adjacent to a large hospital.
Chris says "At the old site it was gated parking. We were always challenged with donors and hospital people thinking it was hospital parking."
But some things never change, like sitting down for a cookie after giving blood.
