New Blood Bank of Delmarva donor center opens in Middletown

The Blood Bank of Delmarva opens a state-of-the-are donor center in Middletown.

The new donor center is in the Dove Run Shopping Center off of Middletown-Odessa Road.

Officials say Middletown was a great place for the new center since the town, and local schools and businesses host multiple blood drives throughout the year.

This is the sixth donor center on the Delmarva Peninsula, and Blood Bank of Delmarva communications specialist Tony Prado explains in part what makes the center state-of-the-art.

"We have donor beds for the whole blood which is your traditional regular old fashion donation, and we also have new machines for a procedure called double reds. Some people know them as power reds, and that allows us to collect twice as many red cells and that just doubles the time between your donations," said Prado.

Prado notes there are new platelet machines that collect platelets in an efficient manner, and the new center boasts the most comfortable donor chairs on the Delmarva Peninsula.

He adds the hope is to boost donations - especially among youth donors - back to pre-pandemic levels.

Prado notes there is a specific donation need right now.

"There is a need right now for Type-O blood, so that includes both O positive and O negative," said Prado.