UPCOMING BONE MARROW REGISTRY TO SUPPORT COOKEVILLE RESIDENT
Community Invited to Register as Bone Marrow Donors for Cookeville Regional Medical Center Employee Judy Phillips
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (Oct. 24, 2016) – Non-profit regional blood center, Blood Assurance, is hosting a bone marrow registry drive for Judy Phillips, a Cookeville Regional Medical Center (CRMC) employee, who was recently diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome and needs a bone marrow transplant to survive. The community is invited to participate in a drive to find a bone marrow match for Phillips, which is taking place Wednesday, November 2 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Cookeville Regional Medical Center’s Putnam Room located across from the hospital’s dining café. A swab sample of cheek cells will be taken from each participant and tested to determine the donor’s tissue type.
The drive is being made possible by the Be The Match Registry®, a worldwide organization made up of individuals who work together to recruit bone marrow and/or stem cell donors to match potential donors with patients in need of life-saving transplants, of which Blood Assurance is a member.
“Judy has given so much to all of us over the years. I am glad that we can come together as a hospital family to join the Be The Match Registry® so that we can raise awareness about the need and hopefully help patients like Judy move closer to a cure,” said Lisa Bagci, Director of the Cancer Center at CRMC.
Through Blood Assurance and the Be The Match Registry®, potential bone marrow donors are brought together with patients who share the same tissue type. The patients heavily depend on the program, which helps increase their chance of a match by 85 percent. Potential donors must be between the ages of 18 and 44 years old and are required to meet certain health guidelines. Potential donors must also complete a brief health history questionnaire and sign a consent form to have their tissue type listed on the Be The Match Registry®. You are only called to donate if you are a potential match for a patient.
Blood Assurance will also be hosting blood drives in support of Judy Phillips on December 8-9 on the bloodmobiles located at CRMC. For more information about the Be The Match Registry®, please call Rhonda Moore at (423)-827-7167 or visit www.BloodAssurance.org/bonemarrow.
Blood Assurance’s Cookeville donor center is located at 155 W Broad Street, across from the historic Train Depot. The center is open Monday–Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. as well as the fourth Saturday of every month from 8 a.m. until Noon. To schedule an appointment, call (931)-526-3462 or visit www.BloodAssurance.org.
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About Blood Assurance
Blood Assurance is a non-profit, full-service regional blood center serving 51 counties and more than 76 health care facilities in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and Virginia. Founded in 1972 as a joint effort of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society, the Chattanooga Area Hospital Council, and the Chattanooga Jaycees, the mission of Blood Assurance is to provide a safe and adequate supply of blood and blood components to every area patient in need. Blood Assurance is based in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
