Guam hospital's blood supply runs low
Concerns are being raised about the Guam Memorial Hospital's blood supply falling below the normal threshold.
February 19, 2015Updated: February 19, 2015
By KUAM News
By KUAM News by Jolene Toves
Guam - Concerns are being raised about the Guam Memorial Hospital's blood supply falling below the normal threshold. The blood bank inventory normally accounts for 72 units of blood, and GMH administrator Joseph Verga confirms that the supply level went below that and estimates that the blood bank has between 42 to 45 units of blood.
While KUAM News has received information that low inventory was due to the hospital being unable to pay vendors such as the Red Cross, Verga says this is a result of an unusual circumstance, as in the last few days the hospital has treated patients who were in need of blood transfusions. In fact just this afternoon Verga says he signed-off on an $80,000 check for payment to Red Cross and are expecting their normal delivery of blood on Sunday.
He tells KUAM News, "We juggle this all the time we try to keep critical vendors paid in full and because of bad payment history there are vendors that want payment in full." KUAM additionally learned that the chemistry reagents lytes and magnesium reagents supply were on a credit hold but he stresses that there is no blood supply shortage and patient care is not compromised. Verga adds that the inventory of blood products the hospital currently has is more than enough and that the hospital has contingencies in place should an unforeseen situation occur.
Those contingencies include the option to borrow blood from Naval Hospital. Verga says because they pay the Red Cross $100,000 a month they are also looking into other options to collect blood and process it on island so that they can eliminate the need to rely on red cross for blood supply.
Guam - Concerns are being raised about the Guam Memorial Hospital's blood supply falling below the normal threshold. The blood bank inventory normally accounts for 72 units of blood, and GMH administrator Joseph Verga confirms that the supply level went below that and estimates that the blood bank has between 42 to 45 units of blood.
While KUAM News has received information that low inventory was due to the hospital being unable to pay vendors such as the Red Cross, Verga says this is a result of an unusual circumstance, as in the last few days the hospital has treated patients who were in need of blood transfusions. In fact just this afternoon Verga says he signed-off on an $80,000 check for payment to Red Cross and are expecting their normal delivery of blood on Sunday.
He tells KUAM News, "We juggle this all the time we try to keep critical vendors paid in full and because of bad payment history there are vendors that want payment in full." KUAM additionally learned that the chemistry reagents lytes and magnesium reagents supply were on a credit hold but he stresses that there is no blood supply shortage and patient care is not compromised. Verga adds that the inventory of blood products the hospital currently has is more than enough and that the hospital has contingencies in place should an unforeseen situation occur.
Those contingencies include the option to borrow blood from Naval Hospital. Verga says because they pay the Red Cross $100,000 a month they are also looking into other options to collect blood and process it on island so that they can eliminate the need to rely on red cross for blood supply.