The chair of the Waterloo Region Health Coalition is raising concerns about a pay-for-plasma centre slated to open on Hespeler Road in Cambridge by early 2025.
Just as it sounds, residents can be compensated for donating their blood plasma.
It's all part of an agreement between Spanish global healthcare company, Grifols, and the Canadian Blood Services.
"In September 2022, Canadian Blood Services announced our action plan in response to a global shortage of medications called immunoglobulins and plasma needed to make them," CBS said in an email to CambridgeToday.
"With funding from governments, Canadian Blood Services is opening 11 plasma donor centres in Canada and collecting more plasma ourselves. Our agreement with Grifols, a global healthcare company and leader in producing plasma medicines, is another part of that plan."
Cambridge, Hamilton and Whitby have been announced as three cities set for a centre, with two more unidentified locations in the works.
Plasma is a protein rich liquid that makes up the majority of the body's blood volume and can be used to treat a number of health issues, but paying for donations is banned in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.
However, CBS said its been in close discussions with the government and has an exemption.
"Governments are supportive of our plan to secure the domestic supply of lifesaving immunoglobulins for patients in Canada," it said.
"The agreement also complies with Ontario’s Voluntary Blood Donations Act, which has always contained an exemption for Canadian Blood Services, with implicit consideration of our agents, given our role as the national blood operator and supplier of blood products in Canada. Through our agreement, Grifols will operate under the Act as an agent of Canadian Blood Services."
Per the agreement, Grifols must use plasma they collect in Canada to make immunoglobulins exclusively for patients in Canada, which reduces reliance on the global market, CBS said.
But the whole operation doesn't sit right with Waterloo Region Health Coalition chair, Jim Stewart.
At the centre of Stewart's concerns is the current state of the healthcare system, the morality of the idea and the reaction of the voluntary donor base.
"It's a repugnant example of profit driven healthcare," Stewart said, questioning who's profiting in the end.
"What's next, paying people for their organs or embryos? This is just another example of Premier Doug Ford’s drive to privatize our healthcare system."
Stewart doesn't believe such centres are needed and that it's going to have a negative impact on existing donors, as well as the quality of supply.
Calling it "exploitation," it seems like more of a business case than one for healthcare, he said.
"This kind of strategy preys on the disadvantaged in society," he said.
"These pay-for-donations centres really impact the homeless, people with low incomes and those with high levels of unemployment. This is going to dismantle the voluntary donor base and the sustainability of blood supply could be in jeopardy."
Stewart said he's already spoken with donors who are against the idea.
When reached for comment, Grifols provided little of substance other than stating by 2025 it hopes to have 15 donor centres in the country to fulfill the agreement with CBS.
While not confirmed by Grifols, Canadian Blood Resources and giveplasma.ca states qualified donors can earn up to $70 per donation and can donate twice in a seven day period.
As the opening date for the centre draws near, Stewart wants people to understand its broader impacts and whether it's what residents should accept from their healthcare system.
"Fundamentally, as Canadians, should we be paying people for blood products?" he said.
"It goes against the principles of a compassionate healthcare system and we need to ask what's driving this is."
