BATON ROUGE – On Tuesday morning, Our Lady of the Lake announced its participation in a new program that will allow it to act as a plasma donor and convalescent plasma testing site.

This means it will provide hospitalized patients suffering from severe cases of COVID-19 with access to investigative convalescent plasma.

Though there is currently no proven treatment for COVID-19, this program, led by the Mayo Clinic, will explore whether or not convalescent plasma, which contains antibodies to the virus that leads to COVID-19, is effective in providing passive immunity to certain patients with severe forms of the illness. 

Our Lady of the Lake Blood Donor Center has begun collecting convalescent plasma from individuals who have recovered from COVID-19. 

The collected plasma will be distributed to patients at Our Lady of the Lake who qualify and enroll in the trial.

Information for Plasma Donors

COVID-19 convalescent plasma can only be donated by someone who is otherwise eligible to donate blood. 

Donors must present identification and will be required to bring proof of a positive COVID-19 test result. 

Donors must have been recovered (symptom-free) for at least 28 days. Donors who have been symptom-free for 14-27 days will need to provide documentation of a negative COVID-19 test. 

All donors are asked to eat well and adequately hydrate before and after donation.

Click here for additional details related to the convalescent plasma program.