Be The Match® and Gift of Life® Marrow Registry, intend to open, in late July, the first registry-operated blood stem cell collection facility in Boca Raton, Florida. The Gift of Life – Be The Match Collection Center brings to life a new donor experience focused on celebrating blood stem cell donors as life-saving heroes and helps remove an important barrier to a successful transplant for patients—timely donor collection.
Be The Match is operated by the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP), a nonprofit organization founded in 1986 and based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that matches blood cancer patients with transplant donors, educates health care professionals and conducts research through its research program, CIBMTR® (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research®), so more lives can be saved.
Gift of Life Marrow Registry is an international non-profit headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. The organization, established in 1991, is dedicated to curing blood cancer through marrow and stem cell donation.
The donation experience can be overwhelming for donors. Travel requirements and the clinical setting often create anxiety. The Gift of Life – Be The Match Collection Center, which feels more like a spa than a clinical setting, allows donors to personalize each part of their donation day and incorporates thoughtful touches into the experience, making the experience more memorable and comfortable. Additionally, a donor concierge helps customize each donor’s experience to ensure donation day is seamless.
The new facility and experience is an event worthy of sharing with friends and family. Both Gift of Life and Be The Match believe this will increase donor referrals, ultimately helping more patients in need of a life-saving transplant. The new collection center will also allow the two organizations to be with donors through the entire donation process, sharing in their day and understanding ways to further enhance their experience.
“People’s lives literally depend on us, and we have an opportunity—and obligation—to get them the life-saving transplant they need, when they need it.” … “By taking care of our donors and honoring their selfless gift to someone they’ve never met, we’re also able to better serve our patients.” – C. Randal Mills, Ph.D., chief executive officer, Be The Match
“The number of patients who need a transplant continues to rise, which means we need more donors to step forward and answer the call to save a life.” … “It also means we need more collection centers to meet the needs of donors’ individual schedules and the urgent timelines for many transplant patients.” – Jay Feinberg, chief executive officer, Gift of Life Marrow Registry, a marrow transplant recipient 25 years ago.
Sources
- https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blood-stem-cell-registries-partner-to-provide-best-in-class-donor-experience-300860000.html
- https://bethematchclinical.org/about-us/our-history/
