Miller-Keystone Blood Center celebrated the grand reopening of its newly renovated Reading Donor Center on Monday, marking the completion of upgrades aimed at improving the experience for blood donors and staff.
Blood center leadership, community leaders and supporters gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the facility, located at 2745A Leiscz’s Bridge Road in Reading.
The renovation included a reconfiguration of the donor center and administrative offices, new donor chairs, energy-efficient LED lighting and updated ADA-compliant restrooms.
Rami Nemeh, president and CEO of Miller-Keystone Blood Center, said the project represents more than improvements to the building.
“This renovation that we did here at the site is way much more than a cosmetic facelift,” Nemeh said. “It renews our promise to Berks County and surrounding area. It renews our commitment to the community that we serve and expands on our mission to save lives in the community that we service.”
Nemeh said the renovated facility was designed to provide staff with an improved environment to collect blood while creating a safe and welcoming space for donors. He said the organization hopes the improvements will also encourage donors to give blood more frequently.
The celebration comes as the organization approaches 60 years of blood collection in Berks County. Nemeh said the Berks County Blood Bank began operations on Sept. 6, 1966, later becoming Keystone Blood Bank before eventually operating as Miller-Keystone Blood Center beginning in 2001.
Today, Miller-Keystone describes itself as an independent, nonprofit community blood center serving hospitals across 18 Pennsylvania counties. The organization needs an average of 350 donors each day at its collection sites and community blood drives to meet the needs of patients in the region.
The Reading location is one of six fixed-site donor centers operated by Miller-Keystone. The organization also holds more than 1,000 community blood drives annually throughout eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey.
During Monday’s ceremony, Nemeh urged residents to consider becoming regular blood donors, noting that whole blood can generally be donated every eight weeks.
“You will be saving lives. You will be impacting families every time you donate blood,” Nemeh said. “Every time you donate blood, you’re impacting a human being. There’s a cancer patient waiting for that blood. There’s a trauma patient waiting for that blood.”
Dr. Thomas Geng Jr., chief medical officer and chair of surgery at Reading Hospital and a member of the Miller-Keystone board of directors, also spoke at the reopening. A longtime blood donor and trauma surgeon, Geng said he sees firsthand how donated blood can become critical to patient care.
Geng recalled treating a critical trauma patient just days before the ceremony who required multiple units of whole blood, packed red blood cells and platelets.
“So I see, you know, pretty regularly, every time I have a bleeding trauma patient come in, you know, the benefit of the wonderful generosity of our donors,” Geng said.
He also recalled a recent call for blood donors at Reading Hospital that resulted in two emergency mobile blood drives filling within hours as hospital employees volunteered to donate.
Geng said he had donated at the Reading center in the past and described the previous facility as dated and dark.
“Now look how bright this is,” Geng said. “It’s beautiful.”
The ceremony concluded with a ribbon-cutting outside the facility, followed by tours of the renovated donor center and administrative areas.
