Munson Healthcare Honored with Versiti Beacon of Hope Award

Versiti Blood Center of Michigan honored Munson Healthcare with the Beacon of Hope Award for the healthcare system’s support of blood drives in 2020. Munson Healthcare regularly hosts Versiti drives at eight locations across its service area. Last year, Munson Healthcare hosted 72 drives resulting in over 1,400 donations. Nearly 300 donors were new to Versiti. 

Blood products cannot be manufactured, and blood banks rely on healthy volunteers to meet the medical demand for products. Red blood cells last only five weeks, and platelets are good for only five days, so regular donations are critical. As hundreds of community drives at schools, businesses, and churches were canceled due to the pandemic, Munson Healthcare’s partnership allowed vital donations, many from staff, to continue. 

All Munson Healthcare donors were acknowledged for their contributions. The coordinators of Munson Healthcare’s drives were thanked for their efforts at donor engagement and community advocacy. Those recognized include Ashlee Bartleson (Corporate Communications), Jennifer Fuhrman (Grayling Hospital), Julie Mueller (Corporate Communications), Jennie Parker (Munson Medical Center), and Lynn Schutter (Corporate Communications).

A nonprofit organization, Versiti is the fifth largest blood supplier in the United States and the sole supplier of blood products for the Munson Healthcare system. Each year, Versiti collects more than 600,000 donations and delivers more than 1.75 million products.