Shortages in the blood supply nationwide, and a temporary halt to transfusions at William Newton Hospital, have Ark City and Winfield hospitals in Cowley County working together to ensure local needs are met.
In late February, William Newton Hospital reached out to SCK Health administrators and established a plan for working together to have William Newton’s OB patients and some surgery and patients that required transfusions to go to SCK Med Center.
Jeff Bowman, CEO for SCK, said Ark City’s per month usage is 28 units, however, with the addition of the partnership with Winfield, he knew it would be far greater than that.
The Red Cross announced in January that the U.S. is facing the most significant blood shortage in over a decade. During typical blood shortage times O Negative is affected, but during this time all blood types are impacted and limited.
Bowman, and the Ark City Hospital Board’s Vice Chair Kanyon Gingher, worked with local state Rep. Bill Rhiley and the Red Cross to receive additional blood allocations to ensure the needs of Cowley County are met during this time.
“There has never been a time in healthcare that is more important for communities to come together,” Bowman said. “SCK Health continues to identify the health care needs of the county and works to support all healthcare providers in partnership with WNH.”
Sarah Johnson, spokesperson for William Newton, said the temporary pause on blood transfusions remained in place this week. It was a result of a necessary update to blood bank protocols and additional training for staff.
The issue is not related to the blood shortage, she said.
“In the meantime, we have transfer agreements in place with other hospitals to provide this service,” Johnson said via email. “We appreciate the work SCK Health has done to help meet the needs of the community.”