Two eastern Iowa blood centers are combining operations today to become the largest collector of the life-giving fluid in the state. The Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center of Davenport is merging with the Southeast Iowa Blood Center, based in Ottumwa.David Green is president and C-E-O of the Mississippi Valley center. Both will retain their individual names but they’ll combine a number of resources, though no jobs will be lost. Green says both agencies are on strong financial ground, but the move will help insure future stability in the fast-changing health care industry.Green says demand for blood in the Quad City area has grown faster than the national numbers. He says in the past four months, demand for blood has risen 20-percent, while the number of donors has risen only 15 percent in the past year and a half.The combined blood centers will serve 25 hospitals in 23 counties in eastern Iowa and western Illinois, collecting about 71-thousand pints of blood this year. The Blood Center of Central Iowa, based in Des Moines, serves 26 hospitals in 22 counties and expects to haul in 62-thousand pints.