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Mission Statement
To enhance the level of medical care in developing countries through
strategic partnerships with
the host country. To provide quality
education and comprehensive healthcare partnerships that are responsive
to the needs of the patients, the host country, provider agencies and
the community.
Medical Relief Foundation will accomplish this through
dedication demonstrated in our partnerships
and by assuring excellence
in patient care in all that we do.
History
Medical Relief Foundation (MRF) is a non-profit organization formed in
1997 in order to improve medical care for the people of
the Russian Far
East. To this date, we have sent a dozen 40-foot containers of donated
medical supplies from the medical communities of Northern and Central
California to the Russian Far East.
In 1998, a group of American physicians, nurses and paramedics from MRF
traveled from California to the Primorsky Krai. During this initial trip
to the Krai, medical needs assessments were conducted, professional
contacts were made and personal friendships were formed. In 1999 and
2000, MRF sponsored several physician exchanges, inviting more than a
dozen Russian physicians
from the Russian Far East to California for
training and educational opportunities.
In May 2001, our organization, in partnership with the
Primorsky Krai
Regional Hospital, built and equipped the first
cardiac surgical unit in
the Primorsky Krai. With American and Russian surgeons working
side-by-side in a Russian operating
room, thirteen life-saving bypass
surgeries were performed on Russian citizens. Since May, Russian
practitioners have
performed twenty additional surgeries successfully.
Prior to this enterprise, the nearest Russian city where bypass surgery
could be performed was Novisibirsk, 2500 miles away. This remarkable
achievement occurred after two years of planning
and preparation, both
in the United States and in Russia.
MRF has also worked closely with the Primorsky Krai's ambulance
providers and the Regional
Center For Disaster Medicine. Accomplishments
include supplying the Disaster Center with much needed ambulance
equipment, as well as sponsoring several Russian Emergency Medicine
Physicians on trips to California for clinical and managerial training. MRF has also recently begun working to supply the Vladivostok Ambulance
Service with equipment and supplies. Through
joint-efforts over the last
five years, a strong partnership between the Medical Relief Foundation
and healthcare institutions of the Russian Far East has been formed.
Current and Future Plans
Our plans include the continued delivery of education and humanitarian
aid to those in developing nations that are most in need.
CONTACT
If you would like to
contact the Medical Relief Foundation,
send us an e-mail @:
Graham Pierce, President
gpierce@phihelico.com
Mike Shuken,
Vice-President
mikeshuken@value.net
Suzy Matsumoto-Jones,
Treasurer
smatsumoto@phihelico.com
Or, feel free to send us a
letter to:
Medical Relief Foundation
c/o PHi Air Medical
801 Airport Road
Modesto, CA 95355 |