Ukraine's first lady visits with staff at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (06/25/06)

Ukraine's first lady visits with staff at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA - First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko of Ukraine was warmly received in Philadelphia on her mission of advocacy and hope for the children of Ukraine. Hosted by the Ukrainian Federation of America, Mrs. Yushchenko had an intensive, all-day visit with the senior medical staff at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and with corporate leaders from the health care industry in Philadelphia.

Her day began with an early morning visit to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the oldest hospital in America focusing on the needs of children suffering from a variety of serious illnesses, particularly cancer.

Over breakfast attended by the chair and senior staff of every major subdivision within the field of pediatric medicine at CHOP, the first lady made an inspiring and compassionate presentation on the health care needs of children and adolescents in Ukraine.

She expressed her hope that one day in the near future there will be, in Kyiv, a hospital on par with CHOP. She expressed the desire that a close working relationship be developed between her foundation, Ukraine 3000, and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia so that financial, professional and advanced technology resources could be provided by CHOP, as well as other institutions in the U.S. and Europe to facilitate and assist in the construction, within the next four years, of the Children's Hospital in Kyiv.

During her visit at CHOP Mrs. Yushchenko had the opportunity for personal discussions with individuals from each medical discipline and viewed two presentations by Clinical Care Options and Icode Systems LLC, which focused on medical distance learning programs for professional training, medical consultations, and technology development and utilization.

At the conclusion of the breakfast meeting, Dr. Alan Cohen M.D., chair of the Department of Pediatrics at CHOP, noted that the relationship between CHOP and the first lady was already in place in that the theme on the Ukraine 3000 brochure was "Giving these Children Hope" and that the theme on a banner in the main entrance to CHOP is "Hope Starts Here."

Following an extensive tour of the facilities at the hospital the first lady acknowledged that these facilities at CHOP were indeed the finest and most advanced of any children's hospital in the world.

Later in the day, Mrs. Yushchenko joined leaders from the health care industry in Philadelphia at a luncheon meeting at the Museum of Anthropology and Archeology at the University of Pennsylvania for a discussion on business opportunities in health care in Ukraine. During the luncheon it was noted that Philadelphia with its five medical schools, two children's hospitals (St. Christopher's/Temple University being the other) and the location of major pharmaceutical corporate facilities, including Glaxo SmithKline & Wyeth, represented a significant resource for a cooperative effort in the creation of the Children's Hospital in Kyiv.

Following the luncheon, the first lady thanked those in attendance, among whom were representatives from the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia and the Ronald McDonald House Charities, and extended her personal regards for the extensive and continuing support, for many years that she and the people of Ukraine have received from the Ukrainian Federation of America and the Ukrainian diaspora in Philadelphia.

Joining the first lady on her visit to Philadelphia was Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Dr. Oleh Shamshur, and Ukraine's consul general in New York, Dr. Mykola Kyrychenko, as well as the first lady's staff from the Consulate in New York.

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