Red Cross realigns chapters

The American Red Cross has announced that its Northeast Ohio Region will now be known as the Northern Ohio Region, following a national territorial realignment.

The new region will continue to be headquartered at 3747 Euclid Ave. in Cleveland.

The realignment initiative will align Biomedical and Humanitarian Services geographies across the country to embrace the organization’s One Red Cross strategy, according to a news release.

As part of the new territorial realignment structure, the Red Cross will transition from 263 to 235 chapters and from 58 to 50 regions nationally. The new Northern Ohio Region will expand from 22 counties to 31 counties and will represent more than 5.3 million residents.

While the new region will maintain a five-chapter structure, the geographic boundaries of the chapters, along with some chapter names, will change to better align people and resources to meet the needs of communities and to ensure a chapter’s capacity to support blood collection, the release stated.

“This new territorial realignment is not a downsizing, but a structural adjustment to better serve our critical mission and represent our local communities,” said Northern Ohio Region CEO Mike Parks in the release.

“Whether you are living in a county that is now joining our region or you are in a county that is merging with another chapter, I want to assure you that —as it was in the past and will continue to be in the future — the Red Cross will always be present and ready to serve your community,” he said. “When disasters occur, the Red Cross will be there.”

The newly formed chapter American Red Cross of Northeast Ohio, representing Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga and Lake counties, will be headquartered in Cleveland and Parks will serve as the chapter executive director.

Meanwhile, American Red Cross of North Central Ohio, representing Erie, Hancock, Huron, Lorain, Putnam, Seneca and Wyandot counties, will be headquartered in Findlay and Todd James will serve as the chapter executive director.

The other chapters of the Northern Ohio Region will be: American Red Cross of Greater Akron and the Mahoning Valley; American Red Cross of Heartland, Stark and Muskingum Lakes; and American Red Cross of Northwest Ohio.