OCH plans blood drive to help combat shortage

GRAVETTE — Community Blood Center of the Ozarks is experiencing a critical shortage of blood, and Ozarks Community Hospital is answering the call by hosting a community blood drive at its hospital in Gravette.

CBCO, the sole supplier of blood and plasma to patients at more than 40 area hospitals, issued a critical appeal for all blood types. Most of the organization’s mobile blood drives for the month of May have been canceled or postponed due to the covid-19 pandemic. More than 3,000 donations were lost last month due to these circumstances.

Due to this need, OCH and CBCO will be hosting a mobile blood drive on Friday, May 22, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., in the front parking lot at Ozarks Community Hospital, 1101 Jackson St. S.W. in Gravette. The bloodmobile will be on-site to facilitate donations.

CBCO will be taking temperatures of everyone at the door and there will be a donor sanitation station to ensure donor safety. Gloves and hand sanitizer are provided for donors to use during the donation process.

Appointments are strongly suggested so that social distancing guidelines can be maintained and for optimal donor flow. Donors can visit the

CBCO website to create a donor profile and sign up for an appointment: htpps://donatecbco.org/ don…/schedules/drive schedule/125326.

Ozarks Community Hospital is a tri-state safety-net healthcare provider headquartered in Gravette, serving both urban and rural communities throughout the

Ozarks. The hospital is located in Gravette and includes a multitude of clinics located in Southwest Missouri, Northwest Arkansas and Northeast Oklahoma. OCH locations can accept Medicaid, Medicare, UHC Military and other insurances. For more information, visit www.OC Honline.com.