Dear Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Family,
 As you may have heard, the blood supply in New York City is at a crisis level and it is National Blood Donor Month. Due to the pandemic, and the inability to host blood drives, the New York City Blood Center currently has a 1-2 day supply. Within transfusion medicine, there are daily discussions as to the ability to supply elective surgeries with blood products. Close to 2000 donations are needed each day in the NY/NJ community for patients who require a lifesaving blood and/or platelet transfusion. In addition to using restrictive blood transfusion strategies, we can all contribute to the blood shortage and improve the lives of our patients by donating blood.
To help, we are having an informal and voluntary Pathology and Laboratory Medicine blood drive. In order to donate, go to the following link to set up an appointment: https://donate.nybc.org/donor/schedules/zip. You will need to be at least 110 pounds and feeling well. Whereas most people are eligible to donate, it is worthwhile to check out this list of criteria before you go: https://www.nybc.org/donate-blood/become-donor/can-i-donate-blood/.
To encourage participation, we will be having a friendly departmental competition during the months of January and February. When you donate, please take a photo of yourself, band aid or donation sticker (whatever you are comfortable with) and send to Jessica Misner (jep2018@med.cornell.edu) along with one sentence as to why you decided to donate. Your image and quote will be published on the Departments’ social media platforms to further personalize our efforts and encourage our online audience to donate. You can also post your images on your own social media feeds using the hashtags #donatebloodNYP #doctorswhodonate and #WCMpathology. If you do not want to be featured on social media, still notify Jessica of your donation. The winner will be determined by the number of donations per division/the total number of eligible donors. We will group divisions in the following manner: Anatomic Pathology/Computational Pathology vs Clinical Pathology/Hematopathology vs Experimental Pathology. The winning group will be featured in our internal communications and website.
Please feel free to reach out to either of us if you have any questions. Thank you for your consideration and generosity!
Best,
Melissa Cushing, MD
Vice Chair for Laboratory Medicine
mec2013@med.cornell.edu
Robert DeSimone, MD
Director, Transfusion Medicine
rod9096@med.cornell.edu