Blood bank opens newly renovated donor facility in Moiliili

The Blood Bank of Hawaii is now accepting donations at its newly renovated Moiliili donor center after more than 35 years of operating in Kalihi.

The blood bank unveiled its new permanent donor facility at 1907 Young St. on Tuesday after closing the longtime donor center at 2043 Dillingham Blvd. on Monday.

The relocation of its primary donor center was prompted by concerns about access at the organization’s headquarters in Kalihi due to planned rail construction.

Since 1980 a third of the state’s blood supply and all of Hawaii’s platelet supply have originated from donors who walked into the Dillingham Boulevard location. Also located on the site are the blood bank’s laboratory and distribution facility.

The newly renovated 9,400-square-foot site in Moiliili had served as a satellite donor site.

“With the timing and resources we had available to us, this was the only option that we found to be sustainable, financially feasible,” said the blood bank’s president and chief executive officer, Kim-Anh Nguyen. Renovation costs were estimated at slightly more than $1 million.

Previously, the Young Street facility accepted no platelet donations and was equipped to handle less than half of the capacity of the Dillingham Boulevard donor center. “In order to keep the Young Street donors here and add the Dillingham donors, we really needed to increase the capacity,” Nguyen said.

The renovated facility can hold up to 14 donor beds — more than twice the capacity in Kalihi.

The move to Moiliili is one phase of the organization’s plan to deal with rail construction, which the blood bank says will be too much of a disruption to its operations to remain in Kalihi.

It has been in a dispute with the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, which had said its attempt to take 2,861 square feet of the approximately 21,780- square-foot Kalihi property didn’t necessitate relocation. The Honolulu City Council stepped in to stop the attempt by HART to acquire the square footage it needs using eminent domain.

Relocation plans for the blood bank’s processing laboratory and blood distribution facility housed on the second floor of the Dillingham headquarters have yet to be determined.

“That part of our operation never closes — 24/7, 365 days a year, we are distributing blood to the hospitals,” Nguyen said. “So we need to be available for ‘stat’ deliveries, for traumas. And we’re working on that — on a plan for what to do, finding shelter so we continue to operate without interruption in a compliant way.”