Welcome To Our Center

The Eugene and Mary B. Meyer Center for Advanced Transfusion Practices and Blood Research is devoted to caring for patients who refuse blood transfusion. We are committed to respecting their autonomy and providing them with the highest quality health care available.

Frequently referred to as "bloodless" medicine and surgery, this new area of advanced transfusion practices was developed to:

  • avoid the risks of transfusion
  • meet the needs of Jehovah's Witnesses, who do not accept blood transfusions
  • supplement a declining blood supply

Establishment of centers where patients can avoid blood transfusions has been spearheaded by two groups of concerned physicians: those providing medical services for Jehovah's Witnesses, who refuse blood products on religious grounds; and those working in the service of providing blood for medical use who are concerned about the increasingly high costs and dangers associated with blood transfusion. We believe that transfusion alternatives represent an advancement in the manner in which patients are treated. Some of these practices include:

  • hemodilution and blood salvage
  • microsampling, the practice of extracting the minimal amount of blood for testing
  • and the use of erythropoietin, a drug that expands the amount of oxygen in the blood

There is more information on these and other techniques in the "Frequently Asked Questions" section.

THE MISSION OF THE EUGENE AND MARY B. MEYER CENTER FOR ADVANCED TRANSFUSION PRACTICES AND BLOOD RESEARCH

The mission of the Eugene and Mary B. Meyer Center for Advanced Transfusion Practices and Blood Research is:

  • to provide clinical services for patients who wish to avoid blood products for religious or other reasons
  • to perform research on non-blood based blood substitutes, developing new approaches for achieving hemostasis in bleeding disorders and studying the mechanisms of hematologic disorders that lead to transfusion therapy
  • to educate physicians, nurses, medical students and patients on topics relating to alternatives to blood transfusion

 

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