New Plasma Center Makes Donating More Convenient Donors Earn Cash While Supplying Substance

People are rolling up their sleeves at the Valley’s new NABI BioMedical Center to help to save lives, and they’re earning a little extra money for their trouble.

More than 500 Valley residents regularly give up a pint and a half of blood plasma - the liquid portion of their blood - in exchange for taxfree cash.

The new NABI center at at 9621 E. Sprague, which had a grand opening on Wednesday, uses the plasma to manufacture products that are sold to burn centers, trauma units and other health care facilities. It also uses plasma in manufacturing a product that can be used by pregnant women whose Rh factor is opposite from their baby.

The Valley center is NABI’s third in Spokane.

Darlene VanEssen of Veradale has been pumping out her plasma twice a week for three years. She used to go to the NABI center at Howard and Indiana. That center closed and relocated to the Valley. Now she’s able to give plasma a lot closer to home.

“I like the idea that I’m helping others,” said VanEssen, 44. “But I do it for the money.”

Like others who give plasma, VanEssen, gets $15 for her first donation of the week and between $20 and $23 for her second, depending on how much plasma she is able to give.

For VanEssen’s eighth donation of the month, she receives a $10 bonus. For every person she refers to the center, she is paid an additional $5.

“That supplements my income and pays for my groceries for the week,” said VanEssen, who works as a scrap collector at Dellen Wood Products in the Valley.

A person can give plasma only twice a week, said the center’s manager Margaret Moore.

Before a person can donate, he or she has his or her blood pressure, temperature and pulse checked as part of a physical exam. A blood sample is also taken to measure protein levels and find out blood type. If approved, the person can give plasma on the spot.

Most people read magazines or books while blood is pumped from their arm. An autopheresis machine collects the donor’s whole blood, separates it into plasma and red blood cells and then returns the red blood cells to the donor. The plasma is sent through a tube into a bottle. After the plasma bottle is filled up, donors get paid.

On average, the procedure takes between 20 and 40 minutes.

There’s very little risk involved in the procedure, Moore said. Prepackaged sterile supplies are used on every donor and each person’s blood is also checked for HIV, hepatitis B and a variety of other diseases.

The main risk for donors is infection if they don’t keep the injection site on their arm clean, Moore said.

The center, which employs 21 full- and part-time workers, can accommodate up to 30 donors at a time.

While giving plasma, VanEssen sometimes finds it tough to stay awake. She tries to read the paper or talk to other donors but the contoured blue chairs are so comfortable she tends to drift off.

“It’s a relaxing thing to do,” she said. “Especially after a hard day’s work.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo