Valley Children’s Healthcare and Wigmore Women’s & Children’s Hospital are proud to announce a formal partnership aimed at elevating pediatric healthcare in Yerevan, Armenia. A signing ceremony took place Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, at Valley Children’s, signifying a commitment to transformative change in the healthcare landscape of Armenia.
Earlier this year, physicians from Wigmore Women’s & Children’s Hospital spent several weeks at Valley Children’s, where they learned from – and collaborated with – pediatric specialists in Madera. Following the success of this exchange, both healthcare networks engaged in discussions to establish a formal long-term partnership.
“We are grateful to the team at Wigmore Women’s & Children’s Hospital for reaching out to Valley Children’s and working together to establish this relationship,” says Valley Children’s President & CEO Todd Suntrapak. “It is a tribute to the shared values of our organizations, to the quality of care we deliver here and the chance to share our experiences with them, and, in large measure, to the deep Armenian heritage of our Valley and of our many patients, families, staff and community members who have made such an impact on our organization for more than 70 years.”
“We celebrate the start of this valuable partnership with Valley Children’s, a leading healthcare institution in the United States that aligns with our vision and core values focusing on delivering comprehensive, accessible and high-quality healthcare to children,” says Dr. Zaven Koloyan, CEO of Wigmore Women’s & Children’s Hospital. “Working hand in hand with our colleagues from Valley Children’s healthcare, Wigmore’s mission is to transform pediatric healthcare in the country by setting international standards of quality and care. It is through the partnership with such a leading institution as Valley Children’s that such systemic change becomes possible.”
This historic partnership promotes continuous learning and professional development of physicians and other care teams in Armenia. Wigmore providers will shadow and learn from Valley Children’s teams in areas ranging from general pediatrics to pediatric subspecialties, including surgery, critical care, neurosurgery and emergency medicine.
Other plans include:
- Nursing education and training
- Development of quality improvement initiatives and patient safety protocols
- Exploring opportunities for the implementation of residency programs and collaborative research endeavors
In the future, Valley Children’s team members will also travel to Wigmore for continued education in key pediatric specialties, nursing and patient safety.
“This goes further than Valley Children’s helping to strengthen the quality of care Wigmore provides,” adds Suntrapak. “In return, this partnership will provide opportunities for our medical residents and physicians to travel to Armenia and deliver care in communities very different than our own U.S. experiences and return with new knowledge and skills they would not gain anywhere else.”
Three Wigmore providers – Maxillofacial Surgeon Dr. Anahit Shahainan, Head of Pediatrics Dr. Aida Papikyan and Pediatric Radiologist Dr. Lilit Petrosyan – began their two-week rotation at Valley Children’s earlier this week. They are the hospital’s second group of doctors to travel from Yerevan to Madera.
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About Valley Children’s Healthcare
Valley Children’s Healthcare provides Central California’s only high-quality, comprehensive care exclusively for children, from before birth to young adulthood. Our network offers highly specialized medical and surgical services to care for children with conditions ranging from common to the highly complex at its 358-bed stand-alone children’s hospital that includes 28 regional NICU beds. In addition, the Valley Children’s Healthcare network includes specialty care centers, pediatric primary care practices and women’s health services.
Our family-centered, pediatric services extend from a leading pediatric cancer and blood diseases center on the West Coast, and a pediatric heart center known for its expertise and pioneering treatments, to a Regional Level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), the highest-level referral center between Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
Valley Children’s was the first children’s hospital west of the Rockies to receive Magnet Nursing designation, the highest nursing benchmark in the world. In 2023, U.S. News and World Report again named Valley Children’s one of the best children’s hospitals in the country in seven pediatric specialties. With more than 670 physicians and 3,500 staff, Valley Children’s delivers high-quality, comprehensive care to more than 1.3 million children from Kern County to the state capital and from the Central Coast to the Sierra. For more information, please visit www.valleychildrens.org
About Wigmore Women’s & Children’s Hospital
Wigmore Women’s & Children’s Hospital, located in Yerevan, Armenia, is a distinguished 220-bed healthcare facility dedicated to pediatric and women’s health services. Serving families from across the country, we provide comprehensive general pediatrics, pediatric subspecialties, and women’s health care.
According to decree No. 3350-A of the RA Minister of Health dated July 6, 2023, Wigmore Women’s and Children’s Hospital was awarded the third highest level for pediatric care.
Our primary mission is to establish a nurturing sanctuary of hope and healing, firmly positioning ourselves as an indispensable cornerstone in Armenia’s healthcare landscape. With a team of over 300 healthcare professionals, we are committed to setting and upholding international standards of healthcare in Armenia, evolving to become the premier hospital in our country and instigating a systemic transformation in the healthcare system. For more information, please visit www.wigmore.am
The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.
