Regina and Saskatoon to get new blood donor clinics, up to 14 jobs being cut

REGINA – New blood donor clinics are on the way in both Saskatoon and Regina, along with job losses for the latter.

“Our priority is, obviously, to minimize the impact on [the employees] to the extent we can,” said Ian Mumford, chief supply chain officer with Canadian Blood Services.

At Regina’s Broadway Avenue clinic, 13 or 14 jobs will be eliminated within about four to five years when a processing facility is built in Calgary, which will process Regina’s donations.

Processing entails turning donations into red cells, plasma, and platelets.

It is not yet known how many positions will need to be filled at the new location.

“It could be that some of [the Regina employees] are actually willing to move to Calgary, have an interest in moving to Calgary to work in the new facility,” said Mumford over Skype in Ottawa. “We will accommodate people who are willing to move.”

Blood supplies will not be affected in Regina. An inventory of blood products will continue to be maintained in the province.

Donor clinics in Regina and Saskatoon are being moved to new spaces within two to three years and by the end of the year, respectively.

“The buildings that we’re operating in in both Regina and Saskatoon are getting a little long in the tooth, as they say,” said Mumford.

Saskatoon’s brand-new location is being leased; the yet-to-be-announced location is scheduled to open before the end of the year.

“These new clinics will be airier, there will be sort of more open space, brighter, and allow us to bring in all the new technology that we want to bring into the clinics as well,” said Mumford.

Both new clinics will offer more parking.