Inova Blood Donor Services marks 20 years and celebrates retired Chief Johnson

By Valerie Cury

Celebrating two major milestones, Inova Blood Donor Services marks its 60^th anniversary and the 20^th anniversary if its Loudoun location. Inova Blood Donor Services is located at 45745 Nokes Boulevard, Suite 160, in Sterling. A highlight of the celebration on April 23 was the special recognition of retired Loudoun County System Fire Chief Keith Johnson.

On hand to speak were Inova leadership team members Nicholas Lilly, Senior Director, Inova Blood Donor Services and Sean McCleary, Vice President, Professional Services, Inova Health System.

The Sterling facility serves as the central hub for Inova Blood Donor Services, where all blood products are tested, processed, and distributed, according to Inova Blood Donor Services Director Nicholas Lilly.

Inova Vice President of Professional Services Sean McCleary emphasized the critical role of community partnerships—ranging from government agencies to churches and nonprofits—in supporting the center’s operations. He noted that the impact of Inova Blood Donor Services extends far beyond what he previously realized, and that its success relies on strong local collaboration.

Inova team members who were recognized were: Yared for 35 years of service, Carolyn—29 years, Norman—24 years, Daniel—24 years, Rebecca—24 years, Kavita—21 years, AJ—21 years, and Ting—for 20 years.

Retired Chief Johnson said that Inova supplied blood to an accident where four or five people were trapped and the rescue team ran out of blood. “Dr. Morgan sent one of our battalion chiefs to get blood, and they gave it to him”—they just gave it to him and didn’t ask any questions. “Those people are alive because of the blood that people, all of us gave to all of us–and it was truly successful.”

He said the blood donor program has been a great partnership, and he is a regular donor. “My family is a regular donor. It’s not about just going to a house fire,” said Johnson.

“If you give blood, it saves lives,” and it’s a pretty awesome thing that you do,” he said.

Loudoun County Board Chair Phyllis Randall said she was hoping retired Chief Johnson would say ‘I want to come back so bad.’ “He didn’t say that, he said ‘No, I’m going to Disney on Friday.’”

“But Chief Johnson’s example, the example he set for all of us in the way you serve, in the way you give back … has made an incalculable impact on Loudoun County and in the regions,” said Randall.

“I say all the time, Chief Johnson is my fire chief, and you can be a fire chief—but you are not going to be my fire chief. Chief Johnson is my fire chief—is my fire chief.”

Randall said the County’s Fire and Rescue Department, led by our former Fire Chief Johnson has blood drives on a regular basis. “The amount of blood that our Fire and Rescue has given is astonishing.” 

“They know the importance of it. They know the importance of the life saving measures of having blood available. They do it themselves and they also do things like Battle the Badges, where they have competitions with the sheriff’s office to see who can donate the most blood.

“In normal life you don’t you know, you’re not like I got to get to the cleaners, got to go to the grocery store, got to give blood. So, you have got to think of ways to make people remember to give blood.” 

Randall noted the short shelf life of blood and emphasized its critical role in saving lives in Loudoun County. She highlighted the efforts of Inova and local firefighters, recognizing Inova as a leader in the field.

Randall said the program came from a tragedy in 2017 where a food truck landed on top of a car with a family in the car. Unfortunately, the mom didn’t make it out, but one thing the EMS had to deal with was that it was going to take so long to get the family out of the car that they had to bring blood to the scene. “Now units carry blood on them.

“In Loudoun County we do hard things, and we do them well, and we do them often,” said Randall.

To learn more about donating, go to inovablood.org. The hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily except for Sunday, which is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.