Sofia, June 6, 2018
Photo: mitropolia-sofia.org His Holiness Patriarch Neofit of Bulgaria paid a visit to Sofia’s Pirogov Hospital yesterday, the largest emergency care hospital in the country, to donate new life-saving equipment on behalf of the Sofia Diocese of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
The “ROTEM Sigma” apparatus was presented to the resuscitation unit in the hospital’s children’s anesthesiology clinic, the diocesan website reports.
The new, state-of-the-art equipment offers “rapid, whole blood diagnosis of coagulopathies to optimize patient blood management in major surgeries and traumatic bleeding.” This will help avoid unnecessary blood transfusions and unneeded stress for the children.
The donation was made possible by a campaign initiated by the Charity Department of the Sofia Diocese. Fundraising began on the eve of the feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos Into the Temple and continued for several months, successfully raising the $27,400 (45,600 leva) needed for the new equipment.
Funds were also donated from a charity in memory of His Holiness Patriarch Maxim, the previous primate of the Bulgarian Church.
This is the Charity Department’s second successful campaign. Last year they successfully purchased and donated an automatic hematological analyzer with five-digit blood counts. The main donor last year was Pat. Neofit, who gave the entire $10,000 he was awarded from the Foundation for the Unity of Orthodox Peoples.
After a brief prayer at the hospital, His Holiness blessed the gathered hospital employees, giving them an icon of the holy surgeon St. Luke of Simferopol. He then entered the children’s resuscitation department and personally blessed every child undergoing treatment.
The Bulgarian primate left the hospital with a wish for success, fewer patients, and God’s protection.
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