UCI Health Blood Donor Centers are now closed due to a shortage in blood donations.
In an email sent out to students on April 14, UCI Health’s Vice President of Operations Tara Kasmarek announced that the UCI Health Blood Donor Centers would close the next day on April 15.
The closures followed the centers’ struggle to keep up with demand for blood and platelet donations.
“The closure of the UCI Health blood donor centers, including at the UC Irvine Student Center, is due to a decline in overall blood and platelet donations, which account for only 10% of what is needed for patients,” Kasmarek told New University via email.
According to an announcement from the City of Irvine in 2024, “UCI Medical Center needs at least 1,000 people to donate blood each month.” Despite this need, an estimate of only “3% of age-eligible people donate blood yearly,” according to the American Red Cross. Of those who donated to UCI’s Blood Donor Centers each month, 70% of them were students.
The U.S. is currently facing a blood donation shortage, according to a UCI Health article published in March. In just January of this year, the American Red Cross revealed that the national blood supply fell 35% from the previous month and that “the flu has overburdened hospitals,” marking a “severe blood shortage.”
Before their closures, UCI Health had three recorded blood donor locations: the UCI Health Blood Donor Center in Irvine, the UCI Health Blood Donor Center in Orange and the UCI Health Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Ambulatory Care Building Blood Donor Center. Once located at UCI Medical Center, the UCI Health Blood Donor Center in Orange operated since 1977, according to the Los Angeles Times, whereas UCI Health’s newest center, previously located in the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Ambulatory Care Building, opened only two years ago in 2024. The UCI Health Blood Donor Center in Irvine at the UCI Student Center opened in 2011.
Though it is unclear whether a loss of federal funding affected UCI Health’s Blood Donor Centers, the closure follows the recent layoffs of 150 UCI Health employees and a massive restructuring of other UCI Health programs due to cuts to “federal funding, changes to insurance reimbursements and evolving patterns in how patients access care.” According to UCI Health, their funding primarily comes from Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital payments and pharmaceutical discounts through the 340B program, two programs that have faced recent federal cuts and legal challenges.
With the Blood Donor Center closures, community members are now advised to turn to the American Red Cross to find further information on where to donate blood, according to Kasmarek.
“Through a partnership with the American Red Cross, UCI Health continues to provide vitally important blood products to the patients under our care,” Kasmarek said. “The Red Cross supplies blood products to all five University of California health systems and manages the American Rare Donor Registry, making rare blood accessible to patients who need it.”
The American Red Cross Orange County chapter oversees four official Blood Donation Centers located in Laguna Hills, Santa Ana, Fountain Valley and Fullerton. The American Red Cross website also allows donors to find local drives and alternative donation locations.
Though the Blood Donor Centers have closed, Kasmarek suggests that the student center location will not remain empty.
“At a future date, the American Red Cross will reopen and operate the UC Irvine Student Center blood donor center location,” Kasmarek said.
Corinna Chin is an Arts & Entertainment Assistant Editor. She can be reached at corinnac@uci.edu.
Edited by Geneses Navarro.
