A division of Puget Sound Blood Center, the Blood Program was created in Fall of 2004 to address the growing need for blood and medical services in the southwest region of Washington State.

Southwest Washington Blood Program is a volunteer-supported, nonprofit community resource that has been serving patients in southwest Washington for more than ten years. The Blood Program provides most of the blood to the hospitals of Clark and Cowlitz Counties.  Besides operating a state-of-the-art bloodmobile in the region, the Blood Program recently opened a new donor center in Vancouver, just east of Westfield Vancouver mall.  The new donor center was built utilizing the latest technology and with donor comfort a priority.  

The Southwest Washington Blood Program is part of Puget Sound Blood Center, which has served Western Washington with its blood services and research for over 60 years. Puget Sound Blood Center began service to the southwest Washington community and its hospitals in 1995.  Southwest Washington Blood Program was created in Fall of 2004 to address the growing need for blood and medical services in the southwest region of Washington State. With the Blood Center, the Blood Program is a key link in the healthcare network, providing blood, tissue and specialized laboratory services in Western Washington and across the Northwest.

Based in Vancouver, the Blood Program relies on generous and dedicated donors and volunteers in the areas in which it serves to ensure an available and stable blood supply to the region. In 2005 the Blood Program provided nearly 11,000 units of red blood cells to patients in Clark and Cowlitz Counties, but collected only 4,400 units locally. "The Southwest Washington Blood Program will allow Puget Sound Blood Center to better serve the community," said Richard Counts, M.D., president and CEO of the Blood Center. "Over the past five years the need for blood has grown beyond the amount collected here. The Southwest Washington Blood Program will allow us to address this disparity and continue our mission of providing the community with a stable blood supply."

Southwest Washington Blood Collections and Supply (1995-2006) *The graph represents blood collected in Southwest Washington and red blood cells supplied to Southwest Washington Medical Canter, St. John Medical Center and Legacy Salmon Creek by Southwest Washington Blood Program. In addition, the Blood Center supplies over 2000 units of plasma and 700 units of platelets annually.

The Blood Program is always looking for ways to improve service to southwest Washington donors.  An exciting part of the Blood Program is our state-of-the-art bloodmobile, exclusively dedicated to managing blood collection operations in Southwest Washington. At 40' long, the bloodmobile was designed to provide maximum comfort and accessibility.  The exterior of the bus is covered in artwork depicting blue skies surrounding a child imagining a better world.  With our bloodmobile, the Blood Program is able to schedule blood drives in the community at least four to six times a week, or approximately 20-30 drives per month.