Registration is required for all of the blood drives at the nonprofit health system’s hospitals. Donors should visit BloodCenter.org to register.

The blood drive locations and their hours are:

Passavant Area Hospital in Jacksonville: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 2 and Aug. 9

Decatur Memorial Hospital: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 3

Memorial Medical Center in Springfield: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 13

Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital (ALMH) in Lincoln: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 16

Taylorville Memorial Hospital: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 19

A mobile blood donation drive will be held at the ALMH Market 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Aug. 21.

The need for blood donors is critical, said an official with ImpactLife, the organization that supplies blood for Memorial Health System’s hospitals and other hospitals in the region. Memorial is partnering with ImpactLife to hold the drives.

“Like many other blood providers across the nation, ImpactLife is seeing critical blood shortages in the wake of COVID-19,” said Amanda Hess with ImpactLife. “We need donors in the days ahead to ensure our ability to provide this lifesaving resource for hospitals and patients in our region.”

Donors who participate in one of the blood drives through Memorial Health System must follow safety guidelines in place on each hospital campus, which include wearing a medical-grade mask at all times and observing social distancing.

Giving blood takes about an hour. Many variables can impact blood inventories, such as weather, holidays or tragic events. Less than 10 percent of the population gives blood, so donors who give on a regular basis are important to meet these needs, Hess said.