Versiti - Ohio State Wins Back-to-Back Blood Battles Over Michigan | Press Release

Press Release

Ohio State Wins Back-to-Back Blood Battles Over Michigan

Columbus, Ohio — November 24, 2023

Buckeye Nation donates more blood than its counterpart, benefitting local patients

The Ohio State University has gone back-to-back in the annual Blood Battle against the University of Michigan, winning the 42nd annual competition by 263 pints collected. The final tally of total blood procedures collected: 

  • Ohio State: 1,732
  • Michigan: 1,469

This year’s victory is the second consecutive win for Ohio State in the Blood Battle, after winning last year by the tally of 1630-1553 pints. The blood collected in Columbus stays local, benefitting patients at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Of the local donors for Ohio State, nearly 1,000 donated blood for the first time with Versiti. 

“We are so proud of our Ohio State and central Ohio communities, coming together to play a role in this friendly off-the-field competition,” said Dr. Naeem Ali, Medical Director, University Hospital and Director of Critical Care Clinical Operations at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “The selfless act by so many donors has the potential of making a lifesaving impact for thousands of our local patients.”

The Blood Battle took place during a four-week period ending on Nov. 22, on both the Ohio State and Michigan campuses. Ohio State held 48 individual blood drives during the competition with its largest drives taking place at Ohio Stadium, the Schottenstein Center and The Ohio Union.

“The pride and passion Buckeye Nation showed for this competition speaks to the compassion in the community to save lives and support patients in Ohio,” said Danielle Falconer, Versiti area vice president and director of donor services. “And the fact that more than half of the donors gave blood for the first time gives our Versiti team hope that the next generation is ready and willing to continue serving all of the people who rely on lifesaving blood.”

Versiti has been the blood and blood products provider to the Wexner Medical Center since 2019. All blood collected by Ohio State directly benefits patients come to the medical center for traumatic injuries, cancer treatment, organ transplant recipients and other medical conditions.  

Blood donors can donate whole blood every eight weeks. Versiti strongly encourages central Ohio residents to consider donating blood as frequently as they can, as there is always a need. Blood cannot be manufactured, which makes blood donation vital for people in our community. 

Blood donation facts:

  • One blood donation can save up to three lives.
  • Every two seconds, someone needs lifesaving blood.
  • 75% of the population will need blood at some point in their lives. 
  • Blood donation appointments take less than one hour to complete.

In March 2022, Versiti opened its first permanent blood center in Ohio at 3830 Fishinger Blvd., Hilliard, OH 43026. Versiti also holds mobile blood drives across central Ohio throughout the year. Donors can register for future blood drives at versiti.org.

Follow the Versiti Blood Center of Ohio on Twitter @BloodCenterOh.

About Versiti

Versiti, a national leader in blood health innovation, was formed with the mission to improve the health of patients and enable the success of our health care partners nationally. We provide innovative, value-added solutions in the fields of transfusion medicine, transplantation, and blood-related diseases to meet the needs of each of our hospital partners. The collective efforts across Versiti result in improved patient outcomes, expanded access to care, and cost efficiencies for health care systems nationwide. For more information, visit versiti.org.

 
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