The Magen David Adom emergency service is breaking ground, Wednesday, on world’s first fully operational underground blood center. Magen David Adom Director-General Eli Bin says the move to build the new facility is driven in part by the fact that Israel’s population is roughly twice as large as when the current facility was built in the mid-1980s, necessitating a blood center with a larger processing capacity. But more urgently, the building must be able to withstand rocket attacks from Israel’s enemies and any chemical or biological agents they may be carrying.
MDA provides the Israel Defense Forces with 100% of its blood and Israeli hospitals with 97% of the blood they need for civilian use. In addition to being reinforced against rocket attacks, the new facility, to be named the Marcus National Blood Services Center after a lead, $25 million gift by Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus and his wife, Billi, will be closer to Israel’s main highways to help distribute blood more rapidly to Israel’s hospitals. The facility will also be designed to meet more stringent building standards for withstanding earthquakes.