August 13, 2015
A recent shipment of medical equipment valued at $680,000 arrived in Dnipropetrovsk, reported the Religious Information Service of Ukraine. Bishop Anatoliy Kalyuzhny of the “New Life” church traveled to the United States after Maidan to seek out religious organizations willing to help suffering Ukrainians, and he founded Project C.U.R.E. which gathered the medical equipment to be shipped to Ukraine.
“We visited hospitals in Kyiv and Kharkiv, and then we came to Dnepropetrovsk. When we saw your hospital and your problems we realized that this was the first place to help,” stated Kalyuzhny.
Operating tables, and X-ray and ultrasound machines were sent from the US to the Dnipropetrovsk Regional and Dnipropetrovsk Mechnikov Military hospitals which care for more than 1,500 wounded soldiers. Most of the equipment is second-hand but not older than five years, and all equipment was tested before being sent to Ukraine volunteers noted. Equipment will also be provided to the surgery, neurosurgery, traumatology, and ENT departments.
The sizable collection was organized by two Ukrainian expats living in the US—Vitaly Dubil and Paul Feodorenko. Cooperation at the highest levels allowed the equipment to easily pass through customs to be delivered to the two hospitals. Eighty percent of the aid went to the regional hospital, with the rest allocated to the military hospital. The money was donated by NGOs and ordinary Americans.
American volunteers in Dnipropetrovsk confirmed that the next shipment of medical equipment will be delivered to doctors at the local burn center.
