The new Biomat USA plasma center will be open for donors on Monday, August 20.

The new plasma center, nicknamed Rexburg 2nd, will have all the things you're familiar with like screening booths and waiting rooms but will have a new playroom.

However, they are still trying to get a vendor for the playroom so the playroom will not be ready by Monday but the rest of the facility will.

The play room has some new toys and large windows, so parents can keep an eye on children while waiting.

The playroom does have rules for who can stay, said Tiffany Jones, assistant manager of the new facility.

“They have to be potty trained, and I’ve heard the limit is three to twelve,” Jones said. “So the kids who use it will have to be three to twelve years old.”

Parents will not have to pay to place their children in the playroom, Jones said.

Past the playroom and screening booths they have four medical offices, unlike their facility on Main Street that only has two and one screening booth, number seven, that is sometimes used for both screening and medical exams.

“Once a donor is done being screened they’ll come back here to a waiting area,” Jones said. “So this is where they will wait for an employee to kinda look over their chart, put the stickers on and get the pre-kit, etc.”

Parents will be able to go into the back room and await donating while their children can stay in the front playroom safely guarded from medical supplies and strangers.

On Monday they will start with 15 machines because they expect the transition to be a slow growth but when it hits around 2,000 donations they will start using the rest of the 60 donation seats and machines, Jones said.

Jones reports that all the machines are brand new and were manufactured this year. The seats are the same as the ones used in the other facility, the only difference is that these are brown.

They also have two freezers in their laboratory, where they keep medical supplies and procured plasma.

The new 14,000 square-foot Biomat USA center is located at 175 W 2nd South, across the street from Gator Jacks.

Parking for the center is in the front and in the back between the new building and Birch Plaza.

Mike Prince, the center manager, said that this new center was ideal for students because it is near campus, student housing and is underneath student apartments. Prince confirms, however, that they have a strict no pajama policy.