FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE) – Valley Children’s Hospital is hosting a special delegation for the next two weeks: three pediatricians and one hospital administrator from Yerevan, Armenia.

The delegation comes from Wigmore Hospital for Children in Armenia’s capital city.  A 220-bed pediatric hospital that opened in December of 2022 serving a population of 1.5 million people. The visiting pediatricians say they came to Valley Children’s so they can learn to provide the best care for their patients at home.

“All the system, how it’s working here, and how I can use this system and make it more flexible in my hospital, ” says Armenian pediatrician Dr. Mariam Ghukasyan.

The day began with introductions and some background on the medical challenges facing the people of Armenia.

“The lack of high quality and advanced education is one big challenge for sure, and you may train your staff and invest in your own staff, but again the hospitals grow, and they need more staff.  You need a system working in a country, an education system that provides the quality that is needed,” says Wigmore Hospital’s Chief Development Officer Tatevik Koloyan.

Valley Children’s staff and administrators welcomed the visiting doctors with open arms.

“We’re really excited to host them here, show them what we do here in terms of both clinical care as well as quality, marketing, communications, some of our specialty services,” says Dr. Jolie Limon of Valley Children’s Hospital.

The visiting doctors got a tour of the hospital but will soon get a more hands-on look at state-of-the-art healthcare for children in the Central Valley, that they hope may someday be the standard of care in their home country of Armenia.

“I believe in my country.  If you want to change something, first, you have to start with yourself,” says Dr. Ghukasyan.

The doctor’s two-week visit is funded by donations to Fresno’s Advance Armenian Foundation and the medical mission of local doctors that visit Armenia every year.