Many residents in the Sydney area say they are having a hard time giving blood following the closure of their blood clinic two years ago.
The nearest mobile clinic is 90 minutes away in Port Hawkesbury.
"It's just kind of frustrating,” says Cyril MacDonald, who has given blood 25 times. “We see that there's a nationwide cry out for blood donors, but yet they took the clinic out of Sydney."
Canadian Blood Services says blood donations are dangerously low heading into the peak summer months. They say while Cape Bretoners are generous donors, the Sydney clinic closed because it simply wasn't meeting capacity.
"It's not because we're not in Sydney that the national inventory is struggling at this point in time. It's because the clinics that we have that are available to the public in the communities we serve with blood donor clinics need to answer the bell," says Peter MacDonald of Canadian Blood Services.
Would-be donors say even if reopening a fulltime clinic in Sydney isn't feasible, they'd jump at the chance to donate closer to home, even once in a while.
"I know in Port Hawkesbury they have a mobile clinic. I don't see why they couldn't bring that to Sydney as well," says Cyril MacDonald.
That’s now something Canadian Blood Services is considering.
"I wouldn't lay any type of odds on whether we return next year or not, but I think it's something worth considering on our end," says Peter MacDonald.
Canadian Blood Services says it will review options over the summer and consider whether to bring a mobile clinic to Sydney as early as next year. MacDonald says as for a permanent blood donor clinic coming back to town, the chances are slim to none.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ryan MacDonald.
