BOCA RATON, Fla. — Boca Raton Regional Hospital just received a vital donation in the fight against the coronavirus.
Gift of Life, a Boca Raton-based bone marrow and blood stem cell registry, announced Friday that it has donated 10,000 "urgently needed swabs" to the hospital to help with coronavirus testing.
The donation comes as many hospitals and municipalities are short of the supplies needed to identify coronavirus cases.
Gift of Life uses the swabs to test tissue type when volunteer donors join the registry to determine donor compatibility with patients batting blood diseases like leukemia, lymphoma and sickle cell.
"Every day, patients battling blood cancer count on Gift of Life marrow registry to ensure they get the transplants they need, when they need them, which means working diligently to overcome global travel restrictions," Gift of Life founder and Chief Executive Officer Jay Feinberg said. "While the coronavirus pandemic has turned our world upside down, it is mission critical that we continue our life-saving registry and blood stem cell collection services while also supporting our partners. We must work together to end this pandemic."
Gwenesia Collins, executive director of pharmacy and laboratory services at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, was thankful "for their generosity."