x
Breaking News
More () »

Here's where you can donate blood in Colorado

The Red Cross said blood donation is so diminished during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has declared its first ever national blood crisis.

DENVER — The American Red Cross has declared its first ever national blood crisis because of a low national blood supply due to the pandemic.

The Red Cross said it's seen a 10% decline in the number of people donating blood since the pandemic began. Donor turnout is down, blood drives have been canceled and there have been staffing shortages, the organization said.

Vitalant said it is experiencing the national blood shortage in Colorado. The organization is urging all healthy Colorado donors to make an appointment to donate blood regardless of their COVID-19 vaccination status.

Those who have had COVID-19 and have been symptom-free for 14 days are also eligible to donate at Vitalant.

Vitalant said even if Colorado donors can't get an appointment right away, their appointment and donation in the coming days and weeks is critical to helping patients in need.

RELATED: Red Cross declares 1st national blood crisis; says donations urgently needed

The Red Cross, America's Blood Centers and the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies said in a joint statement that blood centers nationwide have reported less than a one-day’s supply of some critical blood types in the past few weeks.

Here's where you can sign up to donate blood in Colorado:

Vitalant

As one of the largest blood donor organizations in the United States, Vitalant has donation centers in Denver, Colorado Springs, Golden, Boulder, Greeley, Littleton, Parker, Westminster and Highlands Ranch. Vitalant also holds regularly-occurring mobile locations and pop-up blood drives.

You can make an appointment at a Vitalant donation center or blood drive in Colorado or Cheyenne online at vitalant.org or by calling 877-25-VITAL.

Children's Colorado

More than 95% of the more than 8,000 units of blood used each year at Children's Hospital Colorado comes from its Blood Donation Center. Children’s Colorado’s Blood Donor Center is located at the hospital on Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, on the first floor of the Administrative Pavilion 

The hospital needs donors who represent all four blood types: O, A, B and AB and accepts whole blood donations and apheresis platelet donations.

Appointments to donate blood can be made by calling 720-777-5398.

UCHealth Garth Englund Blood Center

Blood donations at Fort Collins' UCHealth Garth Englund Blood Center support patients at multiple hospitals in northern Colorado: Poudre Valley Hospital, Medical Center of the Rockies, Greeley Hospital, Longs Peak Hospital, and Estes Park Medical Center.

Appointments can be scheduled online at uchealth.org or by calling 970-495-8965.

St. Mary's Medical Center

St. Mary's Medical Center in Grand Junction is the blood provider for Western Colorado and Eastern Utah and supplies 19 hospitals. You can call 970-298-2555 or set up an account to donate.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

RELATED: How to sign up for your county's emergency alerts

Credit: Seth McConnell Photography

> Top stories from 9NEWS curated daily just for you! Sign up for the 9NEWSLETTER right now to get can’t-miss stories, Next and Broncos content, weather and more delivered right to your inbox. 

RELATED: Here's how long to quarantine after testing positive for COVID

SUGGESTED VIDEOSLatest from 9NEWS  

MORE WAYS TO GET 9NEWS 

Subscribe to our daily 9NEWSLETTER for top stories from 9NEWS curated daily just for you. Get content and information right now for can’t-miss stories, Next and Broncos content, weather and more delivered right to your inbox.   

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP
iTunes: http://on9news.tv/itunes
Google Play: http://on9news.tv/1lWnC5n  

HOW TO ADD THE 9NEWS APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE 

ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KUSA. 

For both Apple TV and Fire TV, search for "9NEWS" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.

Before You Leave, Check This Out