Mercy is the only hospital in Missouri that is mobile for its own blood supply. When you give blood or platelets, you give the precious gift of life to someone. Every day, people of all ages and from all walks of life will unexpectedly need blood. They could be accident victims, cancer patients, someone undergoing surgery, or tiny babies in the neonatal intensive care unit. They could be someone you know. Your caring spirit and the time given to donate blood can help save someone's life. We value your time and your contribution.
Mercy offers the following blood donor services in St. Louis:
Your time is valuable. To minimize waiting time, please call and make an appointment or sign-up online. Recent travel to certain locals may be a cause for deferral, so please call ahead and discuss your travel history. If you come without an appointment, please:
Routine blood donor screening measures are already in place designed to prevent individuals with clinical respiratory infections from donating blood. Donors must be well. We screen all donors about their current and past medical history and are taking additional precautions for COVID-19 following recent guidance from the FDA. To ensure the safety of our donors and the patients that will receive the lifesaving blood product, Mercy Blood Donor Services is implementing the following policies:
1) Donors are asked not to donate if:
2) Donors will have their temperature taken upon arrival.
All donors will be required to bring a state-issued form of ID. Your safety is our first priority. We ask that donors come alone with no visitors, and masks must be worn at all times by everyone entering the building.
We maintain clean donation areas using accepted environmental cleaning standards. We are increasing the frequency of our cleaning and disinfection measures. It is critical for our donors to know that blood donation is safe and that patients with severe medical illnesses or undergoing urgent surgical procedures have an ongoing need for blood products that don’t go away during the pandemic. We appreciate the organizations and communities that have scheduled blood drives with Mercy Blood Donor Services.
Your blood donation directly helps the people who need it most. It costs you nothing to give and your donation makes a positive difference in the life of another person.
To donate blood you have to be over the age of 16*, weigh at least 115 pounds, and be in good health.
*16-year-old donors are required to bring a parental consent form, completed in ink, in order to donate.
Your donation will help trauma patients, cancer patients, new moms or other patients fighting any number of illnesses.
Donors may also request their blood donation be directed to a specific patient. Read our Directed Donations Fact Sheet for more information. The donor will also need to complete the Directed Donation Request Form.
Mercy makes it easy to schedule a blood drive for your school, business, church or group. We'll help with the tools to get organized and bring our mobile technicians to you. Saving lives has never been more convenient. To learn more, call us at: 314-251-4483.
It takes about 10 minutes for your actual blood donation. The start to finish time, signing in, screening, donation and snack, takes about an hour.
Heart patients: | 2-8 units of packed red cells |
Car accident trauma patient: | 4-12 units of packed red cells |
Cancer patient on chemotherapy: | 6-12 units |
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) baby: | 5-10 transfusions of packed red cells |
Monthly usage for Mercy St. Louis and Mercy Washington alone is more than 1,100 units.
Mercy Hospital St. Louis
615 S. New Ballas Road
Saint Louis, MO 63141
(314) 251-4483