January is an important month for health care providers.
“It seems like we have an increase of people who need blood in January for some reason,” said Covenant Health’s Transfusion Safety Coordinator, Karin Whitten.
Whitten said on average the hospital performs 30 to 50 blood transfusions a death. And after the holidays, blood donations are less likely.
“So they made it National Donor Month because typically January is the hardest time to get blood, after the holidays, people aren’t really thinking about donating. And people don’t come in to donate. January is really low on supply,” said Whitten.
Leonard Gilliard said he has been donating for the last six years, “I feel like I’m contributing to some small way that the community can benefit.”
