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Home > About Us > Media Article Library > Essentia Health offering convalescent plasma treatment for COVID-19
Published on May 05, 2020
Have you recovered from COVID-19? If so, you might be able to donate your plasma and help someone fight the disease.
Blood suppliers are collecting plasma from people who meet specific criteria. The plasma then will be infused in hospitalized patients who are critically ill. The process, which has been used nationally, will provide antibodies that could help them recover. It’s a cutting-edge therapeutic treatment now being offered at Essentia Health.
In order to donate, you must:
Essentia is collaborating with the Mayo Clinic’s U.S. Expanded Access Program on this treatment, which will be offered at Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth; Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brainerd; and Essentia Health-Fargo. We are coordinating the procurement of plasma with blood-donation centers.
Candidates for convalescent plasma treatment include hospitalized patients older than 18 who have severe pulmonary disease, as well as critically ill patients in respiratory failure, septic shock or experiencing multiple organ dysfunction or failure.
Find a plasma donation site near you.
You may be able to help a patient who is very ill with COVID-19. Patients may benefit from plasma donated by people who have recovered from the disease.
A national approach for this treatment has been put together by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Many blood suppliers have started to collect plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19.
You may be able to donate plasma for COVID-19 treatments if you:
Use this link if you would like to donate plasma to support COVID-19 treatments: https://www.aabb.org/tm/donation/Pages/Blood-Bank-Locator.aspx
Once on the website to find a place near you to donate plasma, enter your city and state. You may search within a certain distance. Click the down arrow by “Show location within:” to expand your search. Make sure to select the box after, “Only Show COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Donation Locations.”
After you hit search, you will see blood suppliers in your area. Click on the name of the center to go to their website. On the website you will need to fill out a donor request form. Once you submit the form, the supplier will call you with more information. Bring your ID with you. Your ID must match your donor intake forms and test results.
Here are a few regional donation centers:
Brainerd area: American Red Cross1301 West St. Germain St., St. Cloud1-800-733-2767
Duluth area: Memorial Blood Center5115 Burning Tree Plaza, Duluth1-888-448-3253
Fargo area: Vitalant3231 South 11th St., Fargo1-877-258-4825
Please reach out to your medical provider with any questions about this process.
To coordinate interviews, photos, and/or video, contact the media relations team.
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