SIOUX CITY - BioLife Plasma Services opened its first plasma collection center in Sioux City Jan. 26 at 5550 Sergeant Road, just west of the Target store at Sunnybrook Plaza.
It is the first plasma center operating in Sioux City since Siouxland Plasma closed its Nebraska Street location about 10 years ago.
Plasma is the yellowish liquid part of blood. It is used in a number of medical therapies such as replacing blood volume in emergencies, treating immune deficiencies and making Rh immune-globulin for new mothers.
The new, roughly $4 million center, has 15,000 square feet of space and sports a bright, pleasant decor of soothing greens and earth tones, accented by the white lab coats of the staff working at various stations. It is one of more than 60 BioLife plasma centers in the United States and Europe.
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"The Sioux City center had a successful first week," Laura Grossmann, a corporate spokeswoman, said after it opened. "There has been tremendous support from the community." She said the center will generate $1.5 million to $3 million in economic activity in the community each year.
Carla Bentley is the Sioux City facility manager. In addition, the staff includes phlebotomists, plasma processors, supervisors, nurses and regional marketing people. The medical director is Dr. Aroon Kalakunja, an internist at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center who will become full time with BioLife in June.
A colorful supervised play area is available to keep donors' children occupied for the approximately 90 to 120 minutes it takes to donate plasma. Donors are paid $20 for their first donation and $30 for their second donation within a week. Donors can earn up to $240 a month for their plasma donations.
Typical donors are between the ages of 18 and 35, but there is no set age at which people are deemed too old to donate, Grossmann said.
The facility has 60 donor beds and will employ up to 50 people once it's running at capacity, she said.
BioLife is building a new plasma center in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and already operates centers in Ames, Cedar Rapids, Coralville and Dubuque, Iowa.
BioLife Plasma Services is based in Deerfield, Ill and is part of Baxter Healthcare Corp., a subsidiary of Baxter International Inc.
Plasma by the numbers
3 million: Liters of plasma collected annually by U.S. BioLife centers
57: Percentage of blood that is plasma
22 million: Liters of plasma used worldwide each year to produce lifesaving medicines used by more than 1 million people
60: Number of collection beds in typical BioLife center
1,000 to 2,300: Typical number of donations per week
4,500 to 6,000: Typical number of unique donors per year
36 to 48: Average annual donations per donor
Source: BioLife Plasma Services and Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association
Plasma facts
Question: What is plasma?
Answer: It is the pale yellow liquid which makes up 57 percent of whole blood. It can be easily replaced by the body.
Q: What does plasma do?
A: It contains proteins that help red and white blood cells and platelets circulate through the bloodstream, helps control bleeding and infection and carries minerals, hormones, vitamins and antibodies throughout the body.
Q: How is plasma used?
A: It is used in five main therapies: to treat hemophilia; to replace blood volume in emergency/trauma situations; provides IGIV, Immune Globulin Intravenous therapy for people with immune deficiency disorders; is used to make fibrin sealant which helps stop bleeding in some surgical procedures and plasma from certain donors is used to make Rh immune-globulin for Rh negative mothers when they deliver their first baby to protect future babies from damaging antibodies. Its albumen component is also useful in treating shock and Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, a hereditary breathing disorder. A plasma component is also being looked at as being helpful in treating Alzheimer's disease, but BioLife says it is "too soon to speculate."
Q: Who is eligible to donate plasma?
A: A donor must be at least 18 years of age, weigh at least 110 pounds and pass a health screening at the time of his or her first donation.
Q: What is the plasma collection process called?
A: Plasmapheresis.
Q: How is plasmapheresis different from donating whole blood?
A: During whole blood donation, all components of the blood are collected, usually a pint is collected, taking about 15 minutes. Donors must wait eight weeks to donate again. In plasmapheresis, whole blood is withdrawn from the body and the plasma separated out using an automated process and the cellular blood components such as red blood cells and platelets are returned to the donor's body. It takes 30 to 60 minutes, but because cellular components are returned, a donor can donate up to two times in a seven-day period, with at least one day between donations.
Sources: BioLife Plasma Services and Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association
