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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The Rhode Island Blood Center is cutting about 10 percent of its staff and eliminating smaller blood drives to offset the costs of screening for an emerging tickborne disease.
The state is one of nine with high rates of babesiosis, and the center will begin testing for the parasite that causes the disease next year, CEO and President Lawrence Smith told The Providence Journal (http://bit.ly/1VzoEGW ).
The center hasn't been mandated to start the screening, but an advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended nationwide testing of donors for Babesia this year. About 15 cases of transfusion-related babesiosis are reported every year, more than any other type of disease.
"It's public enemy No. 1 for the FDA as it relates to transfusion-transmitted disease," Smith said. The layoffs are "mostly due to the cost of collecting blood, which has grown significantly over the past several years and will now have additional costs associated with each unit of blood when we begin testing for Babesia."
The reduction will lead to 37 layoffs, lowering staffing to about 360.
The center will no longer hold blood drives for 15 or fewer donors because they aren't cost-effective, Smith said. Instead, the organization is about to start a campaign encouraging donors to visit one of six blood centers in the state.
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Information from: The Providence Journal, http://www.providencejournal.com
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