Lviv City Children’s Clinical Hospital
The mission of Children’s Medical Care Foundation is to ensure that the most advanced pediatric medical knowledge transcends borders and reaches a wide range of infants and children suffering from sickness and disease. CMCF’s goal is for all infants and children to have equal access to the best medical care available.
Children’s Medical Care Program’s philosophy is to provide ”Packages of Medical Knowledge” in the form of Fellowships to Pediatric Specialists and nurses from participating medical centers and universities to train in the latest techniques and procedures at top medical centers in the United States, Poland and Western Europe. CMCF is committed to building “International Medical Bridges” between countries through the open exchange of medical knowledge, building lasting relationships and alliances to transcend borders and reach a wide range of children suffering from sickness and disease CMCF Objectives assure that geography is not a boundary for medical knowledge. CMCF aims to:
- Improve the health of infants and children in their native country through supporting innovative Fellowships that will expand access to the best medical care available.
- Coordinate participation of physicians at international pediatric conferences, symposia and speakers forums.
History
Dr. Stefan Wilk, founder of CMCF, was born in the greater Lviv Region of Ukraine. He dedicated his entire life to finding ways to help improve medical care to infants and children.
Dr. Wilk worked with Dr. Jerry Maryniuk, CMCF Board and the California Association to Aid Ukraine (CAAU) to raise awareness and to assist with the fundraising efforts to support the Ukrainian Fellowships with emphasis on Western Lviv during the initial years. In 1993, The California Association to Aid Ukraine (CAAU) and CMCF joined forces to create the “Help the Children of Lviv” project, a joint medical training program in Western Ukraine aimed at improving the health care of infants and children. Due to limited English proficiency, Ukrainian doctors primarily trained in “Centers of Excellence” in Poland.
Bjoern Martinoff, President and Jolanta Walczyk, CMCF Board member, further developed the Ukrainian Pediatric Program with the help of Professor Yuriy Korzhynskyy of Lviv National Medical University and Dr. Zoryana Ivanyuk, CMCF’s Managing Director for Ukraine. Board Member Jolanta Walczyk and Dr. Zoryana Ivanyuk have worked to expand training opportunities for pediatric specializations in Ukraine. Currently they have organized a special English Language Course for Western Ukrainian doctors to aid them in their English proficiency, thereby expanding future training opportunity to US.
The Ukraine Pediatric Program includes many pediatric specializations. The CMCF Board and Ukraine Fellowship Selection Committee, rely on Dr. Zoryana Ivanyuk, CMCF’s Managing Director for Ukraine to assist with the administrative process for reviewing the Fellow applications to ensure all requirements have been met.
On March 13, 2013, CMCF celebrated the 20 year anniversary of the Ukrainian Pediatric Program in Lviv that has provided over 100 pediatric specialists with Fellowships. The celebration included a Medical Symposium and other meetings for Neonatologists to exchange ideas. Also taking place at the event was the awarding of the Ukrainian Order of Saint George to CMCF’s president, Bjoern Martinoff, for his tireless efforts at developing the Ukraine-CMCF partnership.
An exciting historical event occurred at the celebration on March 13, 2013 when Andriy Sadovyy, Mayor of Lviv, and Bjoern Martinoff, President of CMCF, signed the first “Declaration on Cooperation Agreement” expanding CMCF’s “International Building of Medical Bridges” partnership of providing financial support for Ukrainian doctors to train at Polish “Centers of Excellence”. The Agreement encourages and supports a more comprehensive partnership between the Foundation and the Lviv City Children’s Clinical Hospital as well as other children’s hospitals in the Lviv region.
A second Declaration on “Cooperation Agreement” was signed by CMCF President Bjoern Martinoff with Rector Valery Zaporozhan of Odessa Medical University to continue providing Fellowship funding for Ukrainian specialists. In the past 20 years, over 100 doctors have participated in the the Fellowship program.
DONATIONS ARE VITALLY NEEDED
In 2013, CMCF supported the first step in Lviv City Children’s Clinical Hospital’s evolution into the first “Pediatric Emergency and Trauma Center” in all of Ukraine. A three-way agreement was signed on August 17, 2013 between Lviv City Children’s Clinical Hospital, represented by it’s Director, Dr. Dmytro Kvit, Karpiel Consulting Group, Inc. and Bjoern Martinoff, President of CMCF, to advise on the planning phase for the hospital’s transformation. The contract provided for physical and medical needs assessment, including identification of training needs, and educational opportunities for physicians, nurses and support staff.
Until a few short months ago, Lviv City Children’s Clinical Hospital, with whom CMCF has partnered for close to twenty years, was on the path to becoming the-first-of-its-kind in all of Ukraine state-of-the-art Pediatric Emergency and Trauma Center, with the ability to treat the nation’s most critical cases at a level that is on par with the West. This project now has been seriously stalled due to a war in Eastern Ukraine.
In this new type of partnership, CMCF assisted the Lviv City Children’s Clinical Hospital, with the initial planning phase of a 4-floor renovation of the facility, which would include greatly improved laboratory, diagnostic and testing capabilities.
In the short term, this comprehensive renovation stands to dramatically decrease the average length of hospital stay, thus enabling a greater number of pediatric patients to be seen, which will become ever more important with the second remaining children’s hospital moving toward an emphasis on outpatient elective surgeries and the third will be closed.
In the longer term, this state-of-the-art “Pediatric Emergency and Trauma Center” is poised to become a Ukrainian first of another kind – a CMCF-supported “Center of Excellence” that will provide exposure to best medical practices with knowledge taking place where it is now needed most-and at a fraction of the cost.
If there were ever a time to lend your strong financial support to help move CMCF’s efforts forward, and encourage colleagues to do so as well, now is that time. To bring this project to fruition in the current war-like environment, would represent a monumental achievement, and would be the ultimate tribute to the INFANTS AND CHILDREN OF UKRAINE.
Your vital contributions will help CMCF counteract the unintended consequences of recent tragic war-like events while laying the groundwork for a better tomorrow when things have returned to some semblance of normalcy.
Your donation can be designated for one or both needs: Donate Now
- Fund Fellowships for Ukrainian doctors
- Support the renovation cost of each floor