Apheresis Program

Hoxworth celebrated the grand opening of this new space with light refreshments and a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 7, 2022. The newly renovated Apheresis Center features four expansive pods to accommodate increased stem cell collections while improving the comfort and care of these unique donors.

In addition to performing therapeutic procedures across the region at our partner hospitals, you can also find our apheresis team members in Hoxworth’s Apheresis Center. In this specialized area of our Highland Ave location, apheresis nurses collect specialized cells for use in stem cell transplantation, therapeutic infusions, and emerging cellular therapies.

Hoxworth’s Apheresis team is available seven days a week, working at this fixed site, and at many local hospital inpatient and outpatient sites in their mobile operation footprint. 

• Hematopoietic Stem Cell Collection
• Mononuclear Cell Collection
• Therapeutic Plasma Exchange (plasma replacement)
• Thrombocytapheresis (platelet removal)
• Leukocytapheresis (white blood cell removal or granulocyte collection)
• Extracorporeal photopheresis (white blood cell treatment)
• Red blood cell exchange (red blood cell replacement)

• UCH (UCMC & West Chester)
• The Christ Hospital
• Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
• Bon Secours Mercy Health (Jewish, Anderson, Clermont, Fairfield, West locations)
• TriHealth (Bethesda North & Good Samaritan locations)
• St. Elizabeth
• Select Specialty Hospital Group (Bethesda North, St. E Ft Thomas, & Christ Hospital locations)
• Cincinnati VA Medical Center
• Kettering Health (Fort Hamilton location)

For urgent needs, please call Hoxworth Blood Center Product Management @ 513-558-1538 and ask for therapeutic apheresis RN or MD on call. Alternatively, providers can reach out to their own internal blood banks who have access to Hoxworth’s call contact information via Amion.

For non-urgent needs, please use the form below and we will get back with you as soon as possible.

If you would like to invite Dr. Alquist to present or attend a meeting, please use the contact form above.

View all relevant certifications and registration.

In 2022, Hoxworth collected more than 75 products from donors for the National Marrow Donor Program for patients across the world, and we expect to continue to expand these numbers.

“We look forward to helping more patients across the globe as our apheresis collection capacity grows,” said Caroline Alquist, MD, PhD, Medical Director of the Apheresis program.

“These donors are giving so much to get to this point, blood work, injections, physicals, so we wanted to provide a comfortable environment for them as they spend up to eight hours donating stem cells to someone they’ve never met.” — Krystol Weidner, RN Manager, Hoxworth Apheresis Dept.

The most common procedure performed at Hoxworth’s Apheresis Center is the collection of stem cells from healthy donors. Hoxworth partners with Be The Match (link to: https://bethematch.org/), an organization operated by The National Marrow Donor Program that manages the most diverse marrow registry in the world. Registered individuals from all over the country can be matched as stem cell donors for patients throughout the world. Once a donor is identified and ready to donate, they will be directed to our newly renovated center for a four to eight-hour collection. We strive to provide the best experience possible to these donors that generously donate both their time and cells to those in need.

“All of those women were fantastically upbeat and clearly loved their careers and each other. They helped keep myself and my partner engaged in conversation and teaching us about the equipment, and someone nearby even baked cookies in an actual oven for us.  Can’t say enough great things about those ladies and their facility in Cincy!”, Donor Testimonial

After a donor is matched to a patient and donates, Hoxworth’s Cellular Therapy team packages these precious stem cells for transport to a designated patient’s hospital for transplant.