<p>Do all blood donation centers ‘sell’ their blood? Meaning, do they all collect it in order to make a profit? </p>
<p>Or is it a charge that is paid by hospitals to cover the procedure?</p>
<p>If there are blood donor centers that accept donated blood and pass it along without costs, can you please let me know. Or, is there a way to donate blood without going through blood centers?</p>
<p>Call your local red cross they can let you know when and where you can give blood. I give blood every 12 weeks I think it is, we have a blood drive every quarter at my college. </p>
<p>I would never give blood or plasma at one of those centers that pay you. Those people can be ruthless in how much blood they take. I have heard and see way to many times the practices they have.</p>
<p>Your best and safest bet is call your local red cross.</p>
<p>[Red</a> Cross of Illinois](<a href=“Loading...”>http://www.redcrossillinois.org/)</p>
<p>YES, even the venerable Red Cross makes a profit by collecting, processing, and selling blood products to fund their “disaster” missions.</p>
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<p>If there is a major academic medical center in your area, they might have their own blood donation center that exists solely to provide blood to that hospital system. For example, the UCLA Blood and Platelet center provides 60+% of the blood and packed platelets for the two main UCLA hospitals (Ronald Reagan Medical Center and UCLA Santa Monica Hopsital).</p>
<p>[UCLA</a> Blood and Platelet Center - Los Angeles, CA](<a href=“Donate Blood | UCLA Health”>http://gotblood.ucla.edu/)</p>
<p>In our area the Red Cross does not have blood centers - it is handled by another group, Central Blood Bank, which claims to be a “not-for-profit” organization.</p>
<p>I don’t know how much they charge for the blood, but I’m sure they have to cover expenses of labor, office locations, transportation, mobile units, etc. I would think a hospital unit would charge a patient for blood too.</p>
<p>“Not for Profit” doesn’t mean that there aren’t people making some tidy salaries at those organizations.</p>
<p>This is likely to be a life-long occurence as this person I know will have to donate frequently - been diagnosed with hemochromatosis (too much iron in the blood), and does not wish to donate to a place that turns around and charges its recipients and pays large salaries to its CEOs, etc. </p>
<p>I appreciate the suggestion to check into a university-affiliated hospital… that sounds like a good place to start.</p>
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<p>Yep, won’t go to the Red Cross for that reason, or LifeSource, which is the other blood donor center in our area.</p>