Blood Service Kuopio moves to the Shopping Center Minna
At the end of 2024, the Finnish Red Cross Blood Service will open a new donation site on the second floor of the Shopping Center Minna. The current facilities on the other side of the market square in the shopping center Sektori have become cramped and no longer meet the needs of Blood Service.
The new location will significantly improve Blood Service’s operations in Kuopio, as it will enable new and up-to-date facilities for both customers and employees.
– We will have four interview points instead of the current three, and one more donation bed. Storage facilities and social facilities for the staff will also be better. This is a long-awaited wish for our entire team, which became possible at this point, says Blood Service Kuopio’s regional manager Paula Korhonen.
Shopping Center Minna’s shopping center manager Auli Ekdahl believes both parties will benefit from the new location. The Blood Service will bring customers to Minna’s second floor, and there will surely be new blood donors among the shopping center’s customers.
Open three days a week
The Kuopio donation site is responsible for the Blood Service’s activities in Eastern Finland, as it also organizes blood donation events in the municipalities of Eastern Finland, Northern Savonia, Northern Karelia, and Southern Savonia. The events are within a radius of about 200 kilometers from Kuopio.
– Our permanent location will continue to be open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. On other days, we will collect blood in other locations, says Korhonen.
New blood donors are needed
Thousands of new donors are needed every year so that there will be enough blood donors now and in the future to secure patient care. As a vibrant working and student city, Kuopio is one of the central locations also in terms of increasing the blood donor base.
Cooperation with the Student Associations of the University of Eastern Finland, for example, has been active, says Paula Korhonen.
– The student’s challenge campaign is already a tradition, which brings us a great number of new blood donors every year and activates students who have already given blood before.
Kuopio is an important location for Blood Service also because the regional warehouse, which manages the distribution of blood products to hospitals in Eastern Finland, is located next to the Kuopio University Hospital.
The exact time of the Blood Service’s move will be announced later. The goal is to open the new location by the end of November 2024.
Shopping and entertainment center Minna, which has invested heavily in renewable energy, events and locality, aims to become the most responsible shopping center operator in Savonia.
– Tenants like Blood Service are particularly pleasing to us, says shopping center manager Auli Ekdahl.
