Blood Collection Service Shuts Down; Red Cross Negotiates Takeover

Time has run out for Corus Blood Services, which operates--or did until last week--blood collection centers throughout California.

A woman who answered the phone at the Costa Mesa blood bank but declined to give her name confirmed that the company, deeply in debt, has laid off about 300 workers--200 of whom are in Orange County--and closed its doors for good.

She did not elaborate on why the company has shut down.

Red Cross spokesman Dan Connor said that since Corus began its blood bank service six years ago, it has lost $18 million. Company officials reportedly were unwilling to infuse the anemic company with any more cash.

The Red Cross is currently negotiating with the small company to take over most of the defunct blood bank’s assets.

Most notably, Connor said, it is trying to hammer out an agreement to take over the firm’s seven blood collection centers in Southern California. Corus also had an equal number of blood collection centers in Northern California.

Other assets, including the company’s laboratories, will not be a part of any Red Cross takeover, Connor said.

“We are not trying to buy the business per se,” said Connor, adding that an agreement could come within the week. “But there are certainly some things that we are interested in.”