CSL Plasma Waukegan, IL

CSL Plasma Waukegan, IL

Reviews Summary

Mixed reviews with clear polarization. Many praise friendly, professional staff and efficient service, particularly highlighting positive interactions. However, frequent complaints cite rude behavior, understaffing, long wait times, payment issues, and inconsistent service quality. Negative experiences often mention poor treatment of new donors, unprofessional phlebotomists, and organizational problems. Positive reviewers emphasize cleanliness, kindness, and a welcoming atmosphere, while critics focus on mismanagement and frustration with policies. The divide suggests location performance heavily depends on individual staff encounters.

About This Listing

Ages 18-69
You have to make an appointment first, by phone or possibly on their website. First time donors are required to pass examinations.

Who Can Donate?

Likely aged between 18 and 65 (some centers may allow up to 69 or older)
Weigh at least 110 pounds (requirements may vary slightly)
In general good health, as determined by a health screening
No tattoos, piercings, or permanent makeup within the past 4–12 months (timeframes may vary)
Provide a valid government-issued photo ID
Provide proof of a permanent address (requirements may differ)

*Note: Eligibility criteria may vary by center. Check with your local facility for specifics.*

First-Time Donors

First-time donors will typically need to complete a medical history questionnaire and undergo a brief physical exam, which may include vital signs and blood tests. Some individuals may be temporarily or permanently deferred from donating based on health or other factors.

Common Reasons for Deferral:

Temporary Recent tattoo or piercing, recent pregnancy, certain medications (e.g., antibiotics), or recent illness
Permanent Certain chronic health conditions, such as Hepatitis or HIV

*Note: Deferral policies vary by center. Confirm with your local facility.*

What to Bring

Valid photo ID (e.g., driver’s license, passport, or military ID)
Proof of Social Security Number (e.g., Social Security card or tax document)
Proof of current address (e.g., utility bill, lease agreement, or official mail dated within the last 60 days)

*Note: Documentation requirements may differ by center.*

Preparing for Your Donation

Drink plenty of water or caffeine-free fluids (e.g., 4–6 glasses) 2–3 hours before donating
Eat a balanced, iron-rich meal within a few hours of your visit
Avoid alcohol for at least 24 hours prior
Refrain from smoking 2–3 hours before your appointment
Avoid intense exercise for at least an hour before donating
Get adequate sleep the night before
Bring a list of any medications you’re currently taking
Postpone your visit if you’re feeling unwell

*Note: Preparation guidelines may vary by center.*

How to Get Started

Many centers allow walk-ins, but some may require appointments. Check with your local center.

Other Helpful Info

First visits may take around 1.5–2.5 hours due to the screening process
Repeat donations typically take 45–90 minutes
You may donate plasma up to twice per week, with at least 48 hours between donations (frequency may vary)
Some centers may offer a refer-a-friend program with incentives
Compensation, if offered, may be provided via cash, prepaid debit cards, or other methods (varies by center)

*Note: Policies, compensation, and procedures differ by center. Contact your local facility for details.*

Features

Ages 18-69
You have to make an appointment first, by phone or possibly on their website. First time donors are required to pass examinations.

Contact Information

Address

730 N Green Bay Rd

Waukegan, Illinois 60085

Customer Reviews

The staff is kind and friendly. I particularly took to a young lady named Jess, she is absolutely amazing. Her cup is always full, never half full. At the end of the day you feel good about the donation because it helps others. The atmosphere is very nice and that's because of the foundation made by those work there, which includes managers, nurses, labtechs, phlebotomists, the ones who set up the machines and the ones who break them down and all the intake people. I appreciate you for assisting us.

Employee of the month goes to Adriana. Shes the only phlebotomist i trust to always make the perfect stick. Greets me smiling and makes me feel comfortable while im there. Quick and efficient. Overall best employee to deal with at this location.

I donated today for the first time in about four months and had the pleasure of being stuck by April the assistant manager. Unfortunately, during the entire time she seemed extremely distracted. When she initially stuck me, it seemed as if she didn't know how to stick. She moved the needle around in my arm and then forced it upwards and proceeded to ask me if I was OK, now I know that being stuck with a needle is going to hurt, but for some reason, this was the worst stick I've ever had. After my stick was

Always a great vibe when I come to donate here Taty stays with a smile or a good joke, and gets the donors in and out ?????

Don't even know where to begin! Still standing in line waiting to get hooked up - there were only 3 ahead of me and that was a half of hour ago. My last time here. There were 3 on the floor working. Now one and a half. One of them decided it was more important to stick water and crackers then wait on the growing list of people waiting. Very very poorly run site. If I can help one person from this misery I have done my job. Going back to my old donation place. Came here on referral but big regrets. Still wa

It started out okay until phlebotomist Adriana or Ariana was extremely rude. Other donors have said she is rude and not professional. Will go to different center. Heard she was a lead, very upsetting, give position to someone who has a better attitude towards donors

Adriana is the best stick/phlebotomist at this location next to val but she been M.I.A. out of all the stsff Adriana always greets me with a smile and makes my donation better. Shout out to her for going sbove and beyond . If shes not sticking i prolly wont donate that day .

Andrew is hilarious and Linda is so sweet. I didn't mind the wait time at all and actually smiled most of my visit. What a breath of fresh air to be here opposed to another place nearby where people aren't bothered by your presence and it shows !

Well I decided to go to this location since it's closer to my work than to go to the one in Diversey Ave in Chicago since it's an hour and a half drive from Round lake to Chicago and Waukegan is closer. Unfortunately the procedure to do fingerprints is a lousy system and the staff seems very condescending on how they manage who's in line. At least the manager I think his name was Wayne or Dwayne saw some concerns but I really didn't like the people up in front when they said that. This is my 2nd time with

Steff ,Les, and juju/julisa are my favorite upfront staff their always smiling and professional ALWAYS greets donors they always brighten up my day when I come in feeling down ?I always leave this center with a smile on my face

Rob didn't let me take a 15 min break for my heart rate. At 6:28. He said it's too late, but if someone walks in at 6:45 they won't tell them they're closed. 5 minutes later my pulse was 88 on my Apple Watch. Seems like laziness to me. Thanks Rob! I heard Grifols Plasma 7min away gives you 55 per donation!

The people here are amazing. And so good at what they do. My fianc?e Susan and I love coming here and helping out people in need and everyone here makes it super easy and fun here !

Taty is Very friendly, professional and kind She takes her job seriously and treats everyone with respect I highly recommend her and I thank her and csl plasma for having her

They have changed the fees based on weight now. This change was made during the holidays in which the bonus could of been more helpful for both donators and patients. 2nd donation isn't really worth the effort for $8 more.

Stef is Kind and Professional, She Treats Everyone Nice. Stef does a Great Job.

I don't understand how this place gets ANY negative reviews. EVERYONE here is professional and friendly. The facility is immaculate. My husband and I donate here and they are amazing to both of us. Anyone that said their experience was bad, I feel you just couldn't donate to get that shmoney. They have certain protocol to keep everyone safe for the donation process. Bottom line, everyone here is great and they try and get everyone in and out safely and efficiently.

Adriana is very exceptional at her job. Professional!

the ppl here r so amazing!!! friendly n nice all r amazing Adriana is faboulus!!!! ??

On July 27th I came to give blood. They punctured my vein. I was in shock. The nurse tells me, Hold on. Until I understand what I need to do. She said, If you don't understand what you're being told, Don't come here. How is that possible? Such a dismissive attitude??!!

Staff member Stef is the best. Very knowledgeable and friendly.

Try to call couple time but nobody pick up the phone are they still in business?

Had to redo my review due to what I recently experienced, well I thought CSL was a great donation center apparently it's not, I recently went on my normal days, whoever stuck me did it wrong to the point I couldn't feel my finger tips while trying to donate, they never gave the full amt payout was told I just missed the dates of the deal like whatever but I never got my blood back this would?ve been my 5x donating but they just deferral me out their system with no explanation I called talk to someone by th

went this morning to go and donate plasma for the first time. Done all my paper work and screening. go back to medical thought i maybe i needed to be screened again. get back in the room and get told dr. needs to review my acp. and they'll call me. they've had my chart for months so it should've been go to go. so frustrating. everyone else has been great there. but that one nurse.

I went yeaterday, Was about to donate. They have a couple of new ppl who aren't respectful. I did my screaming and went to the back. I told them I lost my pay card they said I had to call and report to the bank to get a new pay card sent in the mail. And it would be 30 days before they send me another 1 mind you I been goin for a few months now.

Every time I visit this location it's the same rude lady doing finger sticks , impolite doesn't greet you just has a nasty attitude the whole encounter , if you don't like your job get a new one .

It seems like they are deferring people who have been coming to their facility. I just left my doctors office and my BP was fine. The woman who checked it at csl said that it was too high and told me to wait 15 minutes. I can bet that my BP is going to be too high AGAIN and I will be deferred. Someone needs to monitor the front desk and look at the videos of these employees.

HELLO EVERYBODY GOOD MORNING ALL MY BEAUTIFUL LADIES & GENTLEMEN. IVE BEEN COMING TO YOUR CENTER 2 YEARS NOW AND YOUR MANAGER MRS.AMANDA DO LOVES HER CO WORKERS . I COULDNT NAME EACH STAFF BY NAME BUT ALL OF YOU ARE AMAZING ESPECIALLY ALL THE LADIES IN THE BACK LIKE (VIL) , ETC. YOU ALL ARE VERY CLEAN AND VERY SAFE YOU ACTUALLY MAKE DONATION FUN AND EXCITING EXPRIENCE AND I WILL LIKE TO THANK ALLL STAFF MEMBERS BECAUSE ALL OF YOU FROM THE FRONT DESK TO THE BACK OF BUILDING ARE AWESOME YOUR HARD WORK DEFINI

Lousy service every time I make the attempt to donate they turn me away for whatever reason don't waste your energy with this place

Fast service and the employees are very helpful.

I went there for the first time. I ended up getting bruised which didn't bother me. But apparently it was to big of a bruise to donate. Had to wait for them to clear me. It's been 3 weeks and they haven't cleared me so I only have 10 days left to be able to get my 100 rewards yet I still can't donate because of thier mess up.

Fatimah the nurse who was on duty when I came in was very rude. She did not want to take me in as a new doner when I arrived. I came in before the time they told me that hey would stop taking new doners and told me she was not taking me, pretty much refusing to do her job. Other guests where around and one even said ?she has an attitude that was not right for her to talk to you that way?

CSL decide to lower their payments for plasma. Already ridiculously low, just need to take a little more from people who need even more than they do. Corporations are out of control.

Constantly understaffed. Only open 1/2 the seats. Currently in like for 30mins staring at open seats. This process isn't supposed to take 3hrs every visit.

I have donated here 3 times so far and have not had a negative experience at all. The staff is professional and polite even when dealing with the rudeness and stupidity of some of the clients.

Great place to donate,I've never had any problems with this place. I've been going for a year now.

Good place good environment very helpful

Horrible staffing?place always smells? never completely staffed?.away got people standing around ..and they are rude don't even greet you when you come in

This place is a scam and rips u n off. There rude and ignorant. They are suppose to give u results when checking your blood they don't when u ask them a question there rude. I'll take my business else where. Your ripping people off you would think you would b alittle nicer

Shouts out to Tati and adri

They suck don't waste your time better off going to the one on grand

FIRST TIMERS GET 100.00...AFTER, THEY ONLY GIVE 50.00 TWICE A WEEK...AND A FEW OF THE PHLEBOTOMIST FORGOT TO RETURN MY BLOOD...AND SOME OF THEM DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING WHEN THEY STICK YOU!!! TERRIBLE FEW EXPERIENCES DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO STICK.............................................................

It's horrible the way they treat new donors?????? They will have you wait for hrs. doing nothing while they are doing nothing ???????

Ryan and April are a few of my favorites!!

Friendly staff, slow service. There is only one person available to screen.

The staff is professional welcoming polite and warm. Very clean facility

Very friendly and helpful staff. And the management team is incredible. ??

This place won't be open long the staff is very friendly when they come to work there's never anyone here when they are posed to be

Great place to go to..

Great experience! Staff is great!

They really don't know how to stick

(Translated by Google) That's what happens with the staff.. you have to wait up to 2 hrs. the staff that shows up to work Ace efforts. For serving the best they can and those efforts are not recognized... why did they lower the payment rate... some of us stay healthy to donate... without alcohol. Drugs or smoking... and there is no honest verification from the leaders either...? ? ? (Thank you Estefany for your effort and responsibility..) Thanks to the Responsible Staff (Original) Que es lo que pasa c

Frequently Asked Questions

What disqualifies you from donating plasma?

Plasma donors can get disqualified for a list of different reasons, which may result in a temporary or a permanent deferral. Common reasons people get a temporary disqualification may include being dehydrated, taking certain medications, getting a tattoo within the last 4 months, or being pregnant in the last 6 months.

How can you donate plasma quickly?

Donating plasma can get busy with donors and long waiting times. To donate plasma faster, choose a plasma center that allows you to book an appointment online and take your health screening questionnaire remotely from home. Additionally, call your local plasma center and ask for the least busy days and times of the week.

Can you workout after donating plasma?

Most phlebotomists recommend that you take a day off from working out or lifting weights on the same day as your plasma donation. Instead, take the day to rest, eat well, and drink plenty of water after your donation.

How often can I donate plasma?

Plasma donors are legally capped at two donations per week or 7-day period, with at least 48 hours in between each donation.

What should I eat before donating plasma?

Before your plasma donation, it's recommended that you drink plenty of water (4-6 eight-ounce glasses), and eat a meal with high protein and iron content. Avoid drinking alcohol and smoking on the same day as your donation.