Community project funding/congressionally directed spending - construction - saving patient lives requires innovative technology to serve the needs of hawaii's hospitals and effectively manage…

Community project funding/congressionally directed spending - construction - saving patient lives requires innovative technology to serve the needs of hawaii's hospitals and effectively manage evolving pathogens like covid-19, the current blood bank of hawaii facility must be replaced. IT is more than 42 years old and in need of major repairs and upgrades, and faces challenges including: - BBH is only one of two blood centers nationwide still using old blood filtration technology: the current facility cannot accommodate the walk- in refrigeration system needed to carry out industry-standard blood filtration processes. Undertaking upgrades and the repairs needed at the current facility are cost prohibitive. - state-of-the-art sterilization of blood products against viruses such as zika and other deadly diseases that emerge and threaten our community, cannot be accommodated at the current facility. - with the deployment of covid-19 vaccines, we learned the importance of cold chain storage, which our current location cannot effectively accommodate. The current blood bank of hawaii facility cannot be updated to meet future priorities. The construction of a new 19,000-square-foot headquarters and FDA biosafe level 2 facility is designed to ensure blood is available to all patients on all hawaiian islands when needed. This new permanent home will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, providing unrestricted access to collect, process, test, store and distribute blood. The new donor center and storage facility will utilize highly sophisticated temperature controls, reliable broadband connectivity, a BIO-waste storage area, along with other essential technologies, allowing healthcare providers the ability to perform advanced medical procedures here in hawaii. In addition, this new facility will give BBH new opportunities to develop social enterprises to ensure financial self-sufficiency which will increase our ability to support our mission. Key features of the new facility include: - nation's repository for rare blood, found primarily among polynesian and japanese ethnicities - features that will accommodate emerging and life-saving technologies - workflow design to eliminate any possible contamination of blood products - cold chain storage capabilities to store products requiring ultra-low freezer temperatures - addressing the need for teleconferencing rooms to accommodate remote consultation - designed space for programs to train young people in emerging healthcare careers - sufficient space (9,000 square feet) to enable future expansion - energy-efficient design