Armenia Fund, Inc.
111 North Jackson St. Ste. 205
Glendale, CA 91206
Tel: 818-243-6222
Fax: 818-243-7222
Url:
PRESS RELEASE
Contact ~ Sarkis Kotanjian
info@armeniafund.org
Hadrut Regional Hospital Nears Completion
$2 million project sponsored by Armenia Fund U.S. Western Region
Los Angeles, CA – Armenia Fund U.S. Western Region is pleased to
announce that the thorough reconstruction of the Hadrut Regionl Hospital
in Nagorno Karabakh is near completion. The public hospital will reopen
its doors in December of this year and will serve 12,000 residents in
over 40 villages of the Hadrut Region. The total cost of the project was
over $2 million including the cost of construction, hospital furniture,
medical equipment and supplies as well as 4 new ambulances.
The hospital was constructed in 1982 and was never renovated ever since.
The conditions reached a point where only several hospital rooms were
operational mainly responding to trauma emergencies and infectious
disease outbreaks. The residents resorted to home treatment and visited
the hospital only when their conditions deteriorated critically.
Prior to the start of construction, Armenia Fund conducted a thorough
structural integrity study of the existing building. The results
confirmed that the hospital was structurally sound and can withhold
construction pressure stresses. Nevertheless, given the strategic nature
of the regional healthcare institution and its proximity to the border,
Armenia Fund structurally reinforced the foundations anyway.
`I want to thank all major sponsors of the Hadrut Regional Hospital
reconstruction, true patriots and staunch friends of Armenia Fund who
have been with the organization since its inception. They are true
visionaries who decided to provide quality health care to the people of
Nagorno Karabakh – something that is desperately needed there’, said
Maria Mehranian, Chairperson of Armenia Fund U.S. Western Region.
Major donors of the Hadrut Regional Hospital are:
The Termendjian family – General Medicine Department
Mr. and Mrs. Arkady and Irene Ovanessian – Emergency Care Unit
AGBU Manoogian Demirdjian School Class of 2006 & 2008 – Pediatric Department
Mr. Bedros and Mrs. Anna Oruncakciel – Surgery Department and Ambulance
Mr. Hagop and Mrs. Hilda Baghdassarian – Surgery Room
Dr. and Mrs. Annette Yadegarian – Infectious Disease Department
Dr. Harout and Mrs. Rita Mesrobain – Ambulance
Mr. Isaac and Mrs. Frieda Vartanian – Ambulance
Mr. Gevorg and Mrs. Arax Voskanian – Ambulance
The contractor of the hospital was chosen through a three-stage
competitive bidding process. The construction company stripped the
hospital to bare concrete leaving only structural walls, floor and
ceiling panels – a standard practice in Armenia Fund’s reconstruction
projects. The hospital then underwent a thorough space redesign. The
bathrooms were installed in every two adjacent patient rooms as opposed
to the old design where the entire floor had to share one bathroom. The
surgery block and infectious diseases department were also reconfigured
to correspond to modern medical codes. Other space usage improvements
were made.
Armenia Fund installed new sewage and drinking water systems as well as
new electrical wiring. New natural gas-based heating systems were
installed along with a separate boiler house. The natural gas pipeline
to the Hadrut town is also being sponsored by Armenia Fund as a separate
project, which will be completed in December of this year too. The
hospital roof was built anew, all doors and windows replaced.
Medical equipment and supplies valued at $1 million were donated by
Colorado, U.S. – based humanitarian organization, Project C.U.R.E.
Armenia Fund also provided the hospital with new furniture. The
equipment is currently in transit and will reach Hadrut in several weeks.
`I want to thank `Hayastan’ All-Armenian Fund for this beautiful
hospital. Soon we can accommodate more than 40 patients for simultaneous
in-patient treatment and many more for outpatient procedures’, said
Araik Eremyan, Chief Administrator of the Hospital. `I am especially
grateful for the wise choice of ambulances. Some of our villages are
high in the mountains. In the winter, mountain roads become impassible
for cars for several days if not weeks, but our ambulances have no
problem clearing the most challenging terrain and bringing patients to
the hospital’, added Eremyan.
`Despite the availability of American-built ambulances, Armenia Fund
decided to supply Russian made ambulances after a careful study of local
conditions. These are sturdy, low-maintenance, 4 wheel drive machines
fitted with all necessary medical equipment built on a solid truck
frame. They use low-grade fuel; spare parts are inexpensive and readily
available. The same ambulances are used by the Russian armed forces’,
said Sarkis Kotanjian, Executive Director of Armenia Fund U.S. Western
Region.
A video story about the reconstruction of the Hadrut Regional Hospital
will be featured during Armenia Fund’s 11th International Telethon. The
12 hour live broadcast originating from Los Angeles will be aired live
in the United States and across the globe on Thanksgiving Day, November
27, 8am-8pm PST. The general sponsor of this year’s Telethon is
Armenia’s largest cellular communications provider, VivaCell MTS
Corporation.
Armenia Fund, Inc., is a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation
established in 1994 to facilitate large-scale humanitarian and
infrastructure development assistance to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.
Since 1991, Armenia Fund has rendered more than $190 million in
development aid to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Armenia Fund, Inc. is
the U.S. Western Region affiliate of `Hayastan’ All-Armenian Fund. Tax
ID# 95-448569