LEWISTON – Central Maine Medical Center and the American Red Cross will open a blood donor center at CMMC in mid-December.

The Red Cross Blood Donor Center at CMMC, New England’s first satellite Red Cross platelet and red cell collection center, will open on Dec. 14. A public open house at the facility will be held Dec. 1 at 10 a.m.

Located on the ground floor of CMMC’s Memorial Wing, in the space formerly occupied by the CMMC Woman’s Hospital Association Gift Shop, the blood donor center will initially operate two days a week.

The center will incorporate new technology previously not available in the region. For those who regularly donate blood platelets, the new service will eliminate the need to travel to Portland to make a donation. Red Cross nurses and collection specialists will staff the blood donor center.

Platelet donors give blood in a manner similar to whole-blood donations. However, during the process, the blood is separated into its various parts, and all but the platelets are returned to the donor.

The process is as safe as giving whole blood, but it takes longer to complete. To make the donation experience easier for donors, the Red Cross provides comfortable donor beds and a choice of movies to watch during the process. The entire platelet donation process takes about two hours. Because the body quickly replaces platelets, donors can give every two weeks.

The Blood Donor Center at CMMC will also feature double red cell collection – a new technology that allows donors to give twice the previous amount of red blood cells in a single donation.