Carolyn Young

Rhode Island Blood Center

The Rhode Island Blood Center was founded in 1979 as a non-profit community blood center. As the sole supplier of blood to all of the hospitals in Rhode Island, our mission is to ensure patients have immediate access to a safe, plentiful and cost-effective blood supply. Our main Blood and Platelet Donor Center is located at 405 Promenade Street in Providence, Rhode Island. We also have five additional donation centers conveniently located throughout Rhode Island, including Woonsocket, Warwick, South County, Aquidneck Island and Westerly. RIBC has long-standing relationships with many organizations in community who sponsor blood drives, helping us make giving blood as convenient as possible for donors. Approximately 250 to 280 units of blood must be collected each day to meet the needs of patients and hospitals we serve in Rhode Island and throughout New England. The Blood Center is much more than just a blood collection organization or blood bank. We register people for the National Marrow Donor Program and collect stem cells of donors who match recipients needing bone marrow transplants right at our Providence Center. We provide various therapeutic treatments for patients in local hospitals. Our state-of-the-art laboratory conducts DNA and relationship testing, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing and red cell typing. We are also involved in a variety of local and national research programs in an effort to improve all aspects of the blood banking industry. The Rhode Island Blood Center is dedicated to steady growth and improvement in our community blood program.