The framing of the national blood crisis has shifted from a donation problem to a two-sided one. A Red Cross divisional chief medical officer says hospital demand for blood this summer has risen past what the organization would ordinarily expect for the season, which means the gap is not closing simply because donors show up.
Dr. Courtney Lawrence, divisional chief medical officer for the American Red Cross, said hospital need for blood has markedly increased even beyond what we would typically expect at this point in the year. That statement matters because the public appeal so far has centered almost entirely on collections, and it implies the arithmetic requires more than restoring a normal donation rate.
